


Namu

by blushyuta (renaihyung)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Angst, Character Development, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Falling In Love, First Love, M/M, Personal Growth, Pining, Repressed Memories, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-03-26 06:40:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 29,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19000402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renaihyung/pseuds/blushyuta
Summary: When a desire for change overtakes Lee Jeno, he finds his life entangling with 100 toddlers,  the human embodiment of satan’s asshole and the parts of himself that he never knew existed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> This is my first Nomin fic, so please give me feedback! As much as possible would be great. You don't really understand how important it can be to AO3 authors that you leave them a comment on their work. Even if it's just "good job" it means the world. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

"You look nervous." 

Jeno, who had been looking determined at the road ahead like the longer he stared the longer it would take for them to get there, jumped in surprise. "What?"

His sister laughs, her eyes turning back to the road and her hands drumming on the wheel in amusement. "You're so nervous, what's gotten into you? You're green."

Jeno looks down at his hands and starts examining his nails like they are the most interesting thing in the world. His sister could read him better than anyone else ever could. 

His _insides_ felt green. 

"I don't know what to expect when I get there," Jeno muttered, "I don't remember the last time I was this far out of my comfort zone."

Hyunjae seems to consider this carefully, calculating her next words precisely in an attempt to reach out to Jeno as direct as she could. 

"And what is your comfort zone?" 

Jeno starts to tap his foot to some song on the radio in an attempt to soothe his agitation while he thinks. It only irritates him more for he can't seem to match the beat. 

"Playing Halo with my friends back in the city. Getting drinks at Starbucks and heading down to the Han River on a hot day to soak in the sun. Staying in bed until 2pm every day just because I can. Because it's _summer_ -"

"Don't you think it's good to push your comfort zone?" Hyunjae interrupts, shooting him a look that screamed _'I wish you'd get out of bed before ten o'clock and get a fucking summer job'_. Apparently nothing embodied their mother more than that look. 

The stare was so powerful he had to look away again.

"I've never been away from home for this length of time before. It's like the first step to surviving on my own..." Jeno pauses, finding the courage to meet his older sister's gaze. "It's like I'm moving on."

Unsurprisingly, Jeno's older sister doesn't really know what he's talking about. It wouldn't exactly be the first time. 

"Moving on? Moving on from what?" 

"Childhood." 

Hyunjae snorts aloud somewhat indelicately, "Jeno don't be so dramatic!" 

Silence falls between them, but Hyunjae somehow manages to fill it with the sounds of quiet giggles. 

This seems to infuriate Jeno's temper, his hands beginning to shake - whether that be from nerves or irritation, it was unknown. "What?" Jeno asks, sounding more whiny than he'd like to. "What's so funny?"

Hyunjae puts a hand to her forehead while she keeps one on the wheel, the eldest sibling doing her best to sound like Jeno. "Moving on from... _ **childhood**_."

Jeno smiles faintly as his sister finds amusement in his dramatics, at least one of them wasn't feeling the nerves of the situation. He, on the other hand, was sweating profusely.

"You're only going to summer camp, bro." 

Hyunjae waits patiently for Jeno to look at her. Jeno does glance up eventually, but it's like pulling teeth due to his expression. 

Jeno was pale. 

It was then that the teasing stopped.

"It's only nine weeks." Hyunjae offers gently, her hand reaching over from the steering wheel to pat her brother's knee. "And you can call me whenever. It's only a forty minute drive from the city, it's not like I'm across the world." 

Hyunjae still saw very little change in Jeno's face, so she persisted. 

"There was a cute breakfast place in the town we just drove through, I could come and take you for breakfast and we can catch up if things get too much." 

Jeno appreciates her, he really does. Just right now, he can't seem to tear his mind away from the thought of spending his summer with a handful of strangers and hundreds of kids. 

"Hmmm..." Is all he can manage, allowing the car to fall into a comfortable silence once more. 

Hyunjae doesn't try again.

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Two hours later, Jeno's stirred awake from a delightful slumber against the car window by a rough elbowing. It was something he didn't appreciate in the slightest. 

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!" 

Jeno, who refused to open his eyes, felt the car turning off the country road onto a bumpy dirt track. He knew, with great despair in his heart, that this was it. _Oh God._ He thinks. _Here comes prison._

Anyone would think this was his moment of enlistment or something, not a summer job that he had picked out for himself to keep him busy and earn some cash. No one was _making_ him go, but somehow he felt like it was necessary. A personal mission if you will. 

Well it had felt necessary when he had been filling out the form online three months ago in the midst of winter. Now it was scorching summer heat, his body was shuddering at the thought of nine solid weeks of isolation. Suddenly, it didn't feel necessary at all. 

What felt necessary was a turn back to the expressway - pronto. 

This feeling only grew larger the moment he opened his eyes. 

They were turning and twisting through rows upon rows of pine trees, the smell speeding into the cabin of the car through the open windows. It was making Jeno sneeze so violently his stomach hurt. 

Good start. 

The rich air was something he wasn't exactly accustomed to, being from the city and everything. Fresh air was something of a luxury that Jeno's working parents and busy sister couldn't exactly afford. 

Upon the presentation of the sneeze, he begins to conjure up the excuses to persuade a getaway. If he pretends to have an allergic reaction to the trees then he might be able to go home and forget this mess, completely abandon the idea of ever turning up-

Looking hopefully at Hyunjae, Jeno tries to decipher if it's even worth attempting that method. 

One look seems to be enough to tell him it won't be. 

Hyunjae was already focused on the camp and every intricate detail surrounding it. She reads the signs that litter the roadsides, each indicating which direction certain cabins were. She was smiling at the cute smattering of plastic toadstools beneath each sign, all with small tiny doors in them as though they were inhabited. 

"Jeno, look at the fairy houses!"

Jeno shoots her a withered look, unable to stop himself. "Hyunjae, you're almost twenty seven-"

The smile beaming across his sister's face seemed to be enough to confirm Jeno's suspicions. Hyunjae wasn't going to give him the sympathy vote, at least not this time. 

_Well, fuck._ Jeno thought, disappointment flooding his veins. _Looks like you've really done it this time._

Directing through the weaving pathways towards what the hand-painted signs told them was the _**Rockin' Reception**_ (that alone made the green of Jeno's insides turn brown), they found themselves truly immersed in the camp when they finally stopped. 

They had pulled into a parking bay outside the front of a large wooden cabin that had been nestled into a perfectly round clove of pines. The dust that had been unsettled by the car tyres created a mystical haze over any first impressions, not that they would have been positive had Jeno been able to see.

The cabin itself was quite large and the colour was soft light wood Oak, yet the curtains that decorated the scattered windows were bright _bright_ yellow. The curtains were so bright in fact that the way the sunlight hit them caused a noticeably painful bounce back onto Jeno's retinas. There were also decorations of glitter crayons swirls and block paint handprints that dotted the cabin's veranda. It was a wash of colour that didn't match and the scheme of it looked - at least from Jeno's compulsively ordered mind - terribly disorganised. 

There was a brash sign that was nailed to the wall of the cabin. What had once read 'help desk' now unmistakably read 'hell desk' as the years of wear had rubbed away the defined curve of a 'p'. 

The Lee siblings must have sat in total silence for about sixty seconds upon pulling into the parking bay to a complete stop. Neither of them knew what to say.

It was Jeno who cracked first. 

His immediate approach to the situation was begging. 

He turned to his sister, his hands clasped tightly in front of his face as though he were praying. His eyes were scrunched closed in an attempt to produce crocodile tears just to add to the effect.

"Please...please don't make me get out of this car."

The Look from Hyunjae made a reappearance. 

Five minutes had passed from when Jeno had started his begging, and even as he was standing at the trunk of the Impala with his sister at his elbow, he didn't relent.

"Please, sis. I'll do anything." 

His sister was hauling Jeno's two suitcases from the boot and setting them down onto the packed dust of the lot. Jeno had refused to help in an effort to prevent his luggage from getting comfortable here...in the wilderness. 

"You're out of the car-" Hyunjae pointed out, her hands reaching out to grab Jeno's wide shoulders. "-And you haven't died! See?" 

She began to shake him violently as if to prove her point. 

She shook him somewhat harder than she should have because Jeno immediately had to pull away from her grip. He rapidly brace himself onto his knees, his face steadily turning green. 

His nerves had finally got the better of him, and the shaking hadn't gone down as Hyunjae had hoped. 

Jeno's stomach felt like a grass snake trapped in a very tiny box. 

"Oh shit- are you okay?" She reconciled, but Jeno knew she meant no harm. He batted away her attempts to right his body back to standing, fearing he may see the return of his road-stop lasagne all over his sister's pristine white jacket.

"Uh-huh..." Though he didn't sound too convincing if one were to critique it.

She checks his temperature with a hand on the forehead just to make sure, and judging by her response it wasn't a positive reading. 

Panicking at the situation as this was usually their mom's job to deal with the car sickness, she thought quickly, "I've got some baby wipes in the car, they might cool you down-"

Before she even had a chance to whirl around and get them, there was movement on the veranda of the cabin. 

"Can I help you?" 

Hyunjae and Jeno glanced up at the steps to the cabin, seeing a tall man stood in the open doorway to the 'hell desk'. 

Jeno, ignoring the snake in his stomach, studied the guy while he had the chance. This person had an Australian stereotypical cork hat perched so precariously on his head it looked as if it didn't even fit. His soft brown hair peaked out the sides of it where it wasn't quite pulled down onto his cranium properly, exposing his dire need of a haircut. He wore a hideous khaki get-up and he looked nothing short of wildlife presenter, Steve Irwin, and to add further insult to injury his Korean was accented when he spoke. It was unmistakeable that this guy, although he _looked_ Korean, was probably American.

Jeno couldn't help but look around and wonder _what on earth was an American doing here?_

"Uh...this is my brother, Jeno-" Hyunjae started, taking over as the 'responsible parent' as Jeno seemed to be too busy ogling the guy on the porch to strike up a normal human conversation. "He's here about the camp counsellor job-?" 

"Lee Jeno?" The guy said, examining a clipboard that Jeno hadn't even realised he'd been holding. It was the same colour as his khaki clothing. Upon closer inspection, Jeno could discern that every article of clothing on his body was khaki. 

Perhaps he was a lost explorer, like Indiana Jones.

_Indiana Jones and the Raiders of The Hell Desk_ Jeno thought to himself, trying not to smile outwardly.

"That's him." Hyunjae provided helpfully, giving Jeno a reassuring but firm push forwards. 

Apparently, this was not a brilliant move on his sister's part. 

It was at this moment that the grass snake in Jeno's stomach decided to turn into a five foot Boa Constrictor, and, unfortunately for Jeno, it was an angry one at that. 

His inner smile faded.

Vomit. 

Projectile vomit. 

_Everywhere_. 

Jeno felt his body convulse forward and his insides spew, his throat burning and his eyes watering as he truly saw the recreation of what his body had done to that roadside lasagne within a matter of seconds. 

In the heat of the midday sun, all the two onlookers could do was watch in horror as Jeno's body emptied itself out onto the steps of the porch.

His cheeks burned from the horrid experience of being projectile sick everywhere, but also at the embarrassing experience of throwing up in front of both his sister and a stranger. 

Dear god, he hadn't even been here five minutes yet and he'd already humiliated himself. 

When the vomit eventually stopped emerging from his mouth and ceased splattering all over his shoes, he found himself unable to look up at the guy in the cabin doorway out of humiliation. He was easily embarrassed at the best of times, and having people watch him spewing his guts up wasn't a fan favourite of his. 

"Right..." The guy in the doorway said awkwardly, not really knowing where to look. 

Hyunjae appeared to be frozen in horror, realising she'd been the catalyst to a moment Jeno would ruminate about for the next eighty seven years.

As if to add further insult to injury, for the second time that day the smell of lasagne had returned to Jeno's nose. 

"Well, uh... it's nice to... meet you." 

If the ground could have swallowed him whole right then and there, he would have jumped right in to the Earth's core without hesitation. 

He remained with his hands on his knees, his back bent and his eyes scrunched up in horror. All he could smell was lasagne and the sweet sickly stench of his guts.

He wanted, more than anything in the world, to get back in the car.

"When you're ready,-" a quick glance at the clipboard to check the name, "- _Meno_ , just come on in." 

The silence must have stretched out for about three minutes before Hyunjae whispered-

"I'll get the baby wipes."

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When Jeno had finally wiped himself down (notably all on his own as Hyunjae apparently 'doesn't do sick' - like there are people in the world that do) he meandered up the steps, making sure not to squelch a slider right into the mess his guts had just made. He marches up, dragging his suitcase up behind him like it was the entire weight of his worries.

Hyunjae, with a very sheepish expression as she realised the enthusiastic push might not have been the best idea, plodded up the stairs behind her brother silently. She tried to catch the bottom of the suitcase as it banged loudly against the steps, but gave up about halfway up.

Jeno was in a _huge_ mood.

Neither of them said a word, Jeno still dangerously on the verge of a toddler meltdown. He was inches away from ordering Hyunjae to start the car and take him home at any personal cost. 

The stench of vomit was still stuck in his nose and the very smell of it seemed to make him angrier. How dare past-him consider this whole thing to be a good idea? The audacity he once had in conjuring such a thing?

He practically kicked the door down in anger, hauling his suitcase through the open entryway like it weighed nothing. The cabin door opened with an echoing creek that Jeno felt grinding against the very fabric of his bones, his spine tingling horrendously. 

Both brother and sister took one step into the cabin, looking around the deserted waiting area apprehensively. The drab 80s decor wasn't helping the lingering feelings of Jeno's nausea and the tasteless yellow curtains were still burning their signature into both their retinas. 

Amongst the silence and the tension, the both of them still waiting for something to happen, Hyunjae mumbles-

"Do you want me to stay?" 

_No,_ Jeno thinks, a lump forming in his throat. _I really want you to take me home._

"Meno? Is that you?" The voice of Indiana Jones calls from somewhere down the hallway, the voice distant as if he were facing the opposite direction to the door. 

His sister is looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to do something. Anything. She has a strong suspicion that he's on the verge of bolting out of the door, his body tensed beside hers and ready to spring into action at any moment. 

The words of 'let's just go home' are on the tip of her tongue the moment she sees how pale and gaunt her brother looks in light of everything that's happening at the moment. 

Why is he so nervous? 

She opens her mouth to speak, to reassure him that they can just go home- but, to her total surprise, Jeno takes a deep sigh. 

"It's **J** eno by the way!" 

There's some movement and ruffling of papers from a room at the end of the corridor followed by some muffled speech that they both don't quite catch as it sounded distinctly English. It sounded something like _'it says Meno on the clipboard- oh wait, no it doesn't...'_

Jeno turns to her and shoots her a smile that isn't quite certified or established but he's certainly trying. He's trying to swallow the mood he managed to work himself up to in light of the humiliation, realising he should just forget about it (which is easier said than done, he'll be thinking about the exact moment and all the emotions in chronological order at precisely 3:23am tonight when he's missing home).

"It's okay." He tells her, his voice quiet and gentle. "I've got to do this." 

Hyunjae doesn't ask what his reasoning is, but she notices that Jeno isn't swerving blindly to jump down the stairs and hop back into the passenger seat of the car. That alone seems to be reason enough that he's not desperate to leave. Or at least not outwardly desperate anyway. 

She looks at him then, stood amongst the 80s decor and yellow curtains looking slightly dishevelled after his vomit-fest. Her little brother looked determined by _something_ , that much was clear. Although, she had absolutely no idea what.

"Just call me if you want to come home, okay?" She tells him, her heart heavier than she had expected it would be when it came to this moment. It was only nine weeks at a summer camp, why did she feel so heavy?

He nods, and smiles genuinely at her as she waves from the door, his eyes sparkling and steady. 

"Bye."

"Bye, bro."

As the door closes, Jeno lets go of a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

Part of him doesn't even really know why he's going through with this. If anything, now that his one way ticket out of here had gone, he was even more pissed at himself than he had been before at the bottom of the stairs when he'd mopped himself up with hot baby wipes from the car. 

Jeno barely gets a minute to recover from the decision he just made before the guy in khaki is already marching down the corridor towards him with an extended clipboard and pen. 

"Hi there." 

Looking down, Jeno can't help but allow amusement to befuddle his features. Rather stylishly, this guy appeared to be wearing magenta pink flip flops with flamingo details on the sole. For some reason Jeno felt it ruined the whole khaki look.

"My name's Johnny." He says, locking one of the doors at the end of the corridor firmly shut. 

Realising he wasn't going to get anywhere with being a non-functional human being, Jeno opted for his friendly side in an attempt to make something of an effort. "Hi Johnny, I'm Jeno-" 

"I know." 

Johnny clearly wasn't up for friendly introductions. 

"I'm the owner of the camp. I do most of the admin work but I also train you and your co-workers in becoming safe campers."

Jeno nods, not really thinking of anything else to say that could contribute. It seems to be enough to satisfy Johnny as he continues to talk, the corks on his hat swaying gently as he strides towards him.

"All you need to do is sign here and then I'll show you to your cabin." 

Jeno takes the clipboard and pen from him, briefly skimming the page with shaky hands before deciding promptly that it wasn't like he was signing his life away to the devil. 

He signs. 

And just as he hands over the signed contract to Johnny, he catches sight of some small print at the bottom of the page through the bottom of his glasses. The text said something about the dangers of signing and your following inability to file any lawsuit or criminal court case against the camp under any circumstances once approved by signature.

_Well, shit._

Johnny must have seen Jeno's eyes skim over the statement because he makes a point of putting the clipboard behind a desk where Jeno can't see it or reach it again. 

As Jeno's eyes follow the contract over the desk, Johnny's eyes take a brief glance down at Jeno's shoes. 

Vomit free, thank god. 

Apparently Johnny was more worried about the 'stylish' rug and it's moth-ball invested preservation than whether Jeno was feeling okay.

"Ready to get started?" 

He doesn't really get a chance to nod, because Johnny's already marching out the front door and down the steps, the tails of his unbuttoned khaki shirt billowing in the velocity of his walk. 

"Be careful, the path's uneven!"

All Jeno can do is mope behind him, his suitcases bumping along after him with one in each hand.

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"It's kinda hot out here, huh?" Jeno says after a few brief minutes of Johnny marching in front of him like a bodyguard and some noticeable struggling with his suitcases. 

Johnny doesn't say anything.

They were wandering down another winding path between rows of pine trees, the terrain rough enough that Jeno had opted to grunt every time one of the suitcases hit a dip or a ramp and bounced brutally into his ankles. Indiana Jones was apparently pretending not to notice his struggle as an excuse that he didn't have to help him. Instead, he chose to busy himself with his clipboard and rifle through the noticeable lack of papers that lay on it. 

In fact, there was just one sheet of blank A4 paper on the clipboard. Wanting to laugh and point this out to Johnny to make someone else feel slightly more embarrassed than just himself, he edged closer to confirm if there really was nothing on it. 

Fortunately for Johnny's sane reputation, there was some detail on the sheet. There was some names in fancy cursive at the top. Jeno's glasses meant he could see his name in the middle somewhere, and admittedly it did look a little like 'Meno' from where he was standing. 

He thought he'd better give Johnny the benefit of the doubt. 

Indiana Jones might not be _that_ bad after all. 

"Am I the last to arrive?" Jeno tries, deciding to keep pushing until something within Johnny gives in. 

As if suddenly realising Jeno was there, Johnny whirls around, his unbuttoned khaki shirt twirling around his frame dramatically. He nods to him shortly before turning back to the oh-so-important clipboard. "Yeah. You weren't late or anything, everyone else just seemed super eager."

Jeno's pressing question was merely _why?_

"There's five of you in total, but you'll have me and another camp leader to keep you guys in check for the summer. The training starts tomorrow, but it's only some basic stuff. First aid, mini-bus driving. Nothing too taxing."

Not knowing what else to add, Jeno merely nods and continues to haul ass with his overpacked suitcases. One particular bump seems to send the suitcase flying further up into the air than before, causing Jeno to stumble forwards as it catapults into his leg. 

The large grunt that follows it causes Johnny to turn around just in time to see Jeno's dramatic stumble, the both of them masked in a cloud of dust. 

Johnny, upon openly acknowledging Jeno's injury and struggle, sighs heavily. 

"Here. Let me have one of those." 

Not hiding his shock too well, Jeno hands one over. "Thanks, Johnny."

Johnny only smiles faintly at him, but it's the most warmth Jeno had seen him display. Just from the short time they've had together, Jeno can hazard a guess that Johnny wasn't the warm type to outsiders.

Perhaps he was already making progress. 

They carry on walking. 

"Where are we going again?" 

"The cabins, like I told you." 

Maybe not quite _progress_ just yet. 

Jeno takes the time to drink in his surroundings considering Johnny appeared to be the say-less see-more type. 

The pathways they walked on were lined with trees on either side. There were small little pathways stemming from what appeared to be the main path like a spider's web. The freshness of the pines cleared Jeno's lungs delightfully, and the lingering feelings of sickness he might have felt were expelled by the warmth of the sun on his back and the top of his head. The singing of the blackbirds and the cool summer breeze that skimmed the edges of the trees along the path working a treat in cooling his temperature.

The thick and densely planted tree beds were trimmed back to allow the pathways to get enough natural light and also provide a maze like atmosphere. It made Jeno wonder if he'd ever see the Hell Desk again considering how far into this place they already where, with no signs of civilisation or even a map.

Then he begins to wonder if his Indiana Jones theory wasn't that much of a long shot after all. 

He narrows his eyes at Johnny, seeing if a Matilda-like stare could crack his resolve. It only seems to evoke another sigh out of Johnny, this one pleasant sounding rather than exasperated. 

"Look at that, Jeno." 

Turning to look in Johnny's direction, Jeno could see an opening gap in the otherwise densely planted trees. The shrubbery had started to thin out the further along the path they got, revealing more of what lay on the other side of the small forest. 

A lake. 

A huge, expansive lake. 

The water was crisply blue and the ripples of the water seemed to sparkle in the midday sunshine. The breeze that swelled off of the water and up the shore to the gap in the trees was refreshing and the perfect antidote to the warmth of the sun which was heating Jeno's dark hair. 

"Not only that- we're here!" Johnny announces, picking up the pace in his step. 

Somehow managing to peer over the top of Johnny's head after a couple of ambitious jumps, Jeno spots the scattering of cabins along the waterline. 

This is where he'll be staying. 

Initially they looked like boat houses, but the closer they walked to them, the more they began to look like miniature versions of the Hell Desk. Bright yellow curtains and light Oak panelling. 

Jeno was practically _itching_ to see the 80s decor within. 

Each cabin had a small veranda around it as trim, leading down to the main path. With about four cabins in total, it looked like a small little village in amongst the mountains and the lakeside nature. The layout amongst the pine trees was inexplicably textbook and Jeno wondered if he'd been transported to the movie set of the hit motion picture Camp Rock for a brief second. 

Somehow, the whole scene was kind of endearing and cute.

"All of the other campers are currently in my cabin. I said we'll just meet them in there. Me and my colleague have to give you guys the debrief."

It was during this time of surveying the cabins and listening to Johnny prattle on that Jeno thought for a hot minute that maybe, just _maybe_ , this whole thing wasn't going to be that bad. 

"Be careful where you're walking there's a lot of rabbit ho-"

But then, as if his mere thoughts were cursed and turning against him, all of that thinking quickly evaporated. 

" ** _OH FUCK-_** "

There's an almighty cry as Jeno falls to the floor like a sack of potatoes, his foot twisted as it fell into the rabbit hole right in the centre of the path. He yells out in instinct, causing Johnny March-o-Lot to turn around immediately. 

He's leaning on one of his knees, not really knowing how to get himself out of the situation as his foot really is bent quite badly out of it's normal position. 

Jeno's biting his lip to stop himself from bursting into tears. He wasn't a crybaby by any standards, but he most certainly couldn't take ANOTHER embarrassing moment today. His mind was already gearing itself up for the three-am rumination session where his mind replayed this moment second by second in an attempt to torture him into insanity.

Johnny drops the suitcase he was carrying immediately, letting it land onto the dust trail. He reaches his hands out to haul Jeno up from the ground, hooking his arms under Jeno's armpits to fish him out of the hole.

"I told you there were rabbit holes," Johnny says, somewhat unhelpfully. 

If he hadn't been too concerned with the damage done to his foot, he would have said some choice words to Johnny that may or may not have ended with a phone call home to his sister. 

" _Arghh_ Johnny, please don't move me up that fast-" 

"I can't do it in centimetres dude, it's all or nothing-"

Jeno was trying everything in his resolve not to cry out again as his foot is righted into what should have been the correct position. The way he had twisted it as he'd fallen into the hole suggested he'd had a pretty nasty sprain. 

"Can you walk on it?" Johnny asks, somewhat concerned (which was a tone of voice that seemed odd in his own mouth even though he was the one that spoke). 

Jeno, who was now standing upright but with the sprained ankle positioned off of the floor as though he were mimicking a ballet dancer, tried to level the foot down so it was firmly planted on the floor. 

The act of doing so seemed too much; he cried out again. He winced as the clicking of his ankle bones caused more tension for his twisted muscles. 

"I'd say that's a no then." Johnny decides, narrowing his eyes as he kneels down to inspect the ankle. 

A few moments proves pretty much nothing, except Johnny rising back to eye level with Jeno and declaring - "it's a sprain." 

_Thank God Sherlock was here._ Jeno thinks.

"Well?" The immediate throbbing of Jeno's ankle is enough to make him squirm and panic pretty much instantly. "Do I die out here or what?" 

Johnny considers this like it's an option. "No," he says eventually, "I think you'll be fine. It'll be hard to walk on that for a few days though, so it looks like you won't be doing any of the training if you can help it." 

This fact, although apparently detrimental to Johnny, wasn't something Jeno was particularly disappointed to hear. 

"I'm going to have to pick you up fireman style, okay?"

Jeno looks at Johnny, his eyes widening in panic. "You're going to _what_?"

"Okay," Johnny immediately folds himself in half as though he had done this before, coming down to Jeno's waist level and moving his arms so they were inches away from hoisting Jeno over his shoulder. "Let's get you to a first aid kit. I have one in my cabin." 

Before Jeno can say another word, Johnny's hoisting Jeno over his broad shoulder, khaki meeting black ripped jeans in a weird yet stylish mix up. Jeno splutters as the point of Johnny's shoulder spears him in the stomach uncomfortably, knocking the wind out of his body in one foul swoop. 

As Johnny uses Jeno's weight as a momentum to get him over his shoulder, the force of the lift causes Jeno's rapidly swelling ankle to lift up into the air and kick Indiana Jones in the ribs. The kick's impact on Jeno's foot makes him cry out in pain, the sound echoing down the path and beyond. The kick itself on Johnny's body lifts a whimper of betrayal from within the tall man's body. 

"Why'd you kick me?" Johnny gasps, the air being knocked from his lungs with the kick to the ribs. 

"I didn't mean to!" 

"It felt intentional-"

"You were the one who lifted me-" Jeno protests, dangling helplessly from Johnny's tight shoulder grip on him. His legs hanging and swaying with the momentum of Johnny trying to find his balance. 

"Irrelevant," He says with laboured breathing, "you're heavy. Let's go."

"Did you just call me _heavy_ -?"

Johnny, despite clearly struggling to walk another step with Jeno hauled over one shoulder, manages to make it a couple of feet before the body on his back realises something. 

"What about my luggage?" 

Some evil streak within Johnny calls for him to throw Jeno in the lake and use his clothes to mop up the rest of the sick on the Hell Desk stairwell. 

"Fuck your luggage."

He doesn't even take a moment to look behind him at where the luggage would be, he already knows two of the wheels came off of the suitcase Jeno was holding when he went down into the rabbit hole, and the other was discarded in a nearby bush where Johnny had thrown it in the commotion. 

"I'll get it later."

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It takes a short while but when Johnny finally staggers up close to the cabins, he makes an immediate turn for the nearest one to them. He's practically jogging with Jeno flung over his shoulder, the boy acting as some kind of workout bag used for increasing stamina. Johnny, now beyond desperate to set Jeno's 65kgs of weight down onto solid ground, picks up the pace at the expense of some broken bones. 

As Johnny picks up the pace as they near the cabin door, the sharp edge of his shoulder bumps uncomfortably underneath Jeno's rib cage and causes the wind to be knocked out of him once more, leaving him gasping for breath. "Joh-Johnny-"

"Almost there-" He grunts, his body heaving with the weight of a fully grown teenage boy on top of him. 

Somehow, as if he had trained for this exact moment, Johnny reached the door and without pausing for a second put a foot out, booting the frame in. The door swung open and Jeno scrunched his eyes closed as he skimmed the top of the splintered door frame by millimetres. 

Everything that happens next all seems to happen in a blur.

From the sounds of voices and questioning tones to the whoosh of air and the whirling of the room as Jeno is thrown onto a double bed at high speed (meaning the landing was less than comfortable), it's fair to say the whole thing was a clusterfuck.

Jeno lies there, stunned. He faces the paint peeling ceiling of a small wooden cabin, beneath him is a hard mattress with thin pillows and a thin sheet for a duvet. 

Somewhere in the room the voices have gone quiet, and for a brief second Jeno wonders if the fall into the rabbit hole had dislodged his brain and caused him to hear things that weren't actually there. However, as Johnny quickly rummages for the first aid kit somewhere within the cabin, a voice speaks in order to shatter the weird silence that had settled upon the room. "What's going on?" 

 

It was at this moment that Jeno seemed to tap into his sixth sense ability. Although, instead of seeing dead people, he became all at once aware of the stares thrown his way from various people around the room. Even though he could only see upwards, he could feel the prickle of eyes scattering over his skin.

Jeno lies there for a moment, blinking at the ceiling, understanding that he now has to face these strangers in possibly the weirdest way possible that he could have introduced himself.

How many normal introductions started with a sickly vomit-smelling, sprained-ankle cripple saying "hi" as they're flung across a room at high speed?

The absolute absurdity of the situation is leaving him beyond stunned. Thirty minutes ago he was sitting in the car with his sister at a time when past him could have avoided _all_ of this.

Sighing, he shuffles up in the bed into a sitting position, his eyes scrunched up as the pain from his swelling foot throbs within his slider. 

Or at least the lack thereof. 

He quickly comes to realise he doesn't have a shoe on the sprained foot. Perhaps it had come off in the hole out of sheer force? 

In his own brief amusement, he imagines that the rabbit that dug the hole is now fashioning a sled or a boat from Jeno's shoe. Perhaps it has gone to a good home.

Sitting with his back against the headboard, he waits for a moment where his sudden anxiety subsides. Rather depressingly, it doesn't take him an awfully long time to realise that it never will subside. 

He gradually opens his eyes. 

And immediately, he flinches.

_Well, shit._ He thinks, his eyes scanning the room _One...three...another one- oh... is that someone beside Johnny?_

Six boys, all similar to his age group, were scattered around the cabin at varying levels. Some were sat on chairs, others were sitting on the floor cross-legged. One boy, who at first glance looked to be the youngest out of the six, was sitting at the foot of the bed Jeno was lying on and was watching him intently. They were all looking at him in bewilderment; like instead of a sprained ankle, Jeno had suddenly grown two fully developed heads.

Despite the stares of curiosity, Jeno couldn't seem to focus on one of them in particular. Inadvertently in the midst of the rapidly unfolding situation and his overwhelming embarrassment, his company had all merged together into one person. 

Feeling significantly flustered and in the midst of a hot flush, Jeno has to close his eyes again for a few seconds to regain his cool (if he had any in the first place).

The world really wasn't doing him any favours today, that was most definitely for sure.

Johnny was still banging about in cupboards as he searched for the first aid kit. He looks up from one particular cupboard on the far side of the room upon noticing the inquisitive and bewildered silence settling over everyone.

It was here he must have realised the peculiarity of Jeno's first impressions, and he lazily decides to help him out. 

He waves his hand in Jeno's direction, stating "yeah, so..." He stuck his head back into the wardrobe, his hand still motioning in Jeno's general direction. "Everybody, this is- uh..."

"Jeno." Jeno says, clearing his throat and finding his breath again after Johnny had knocked it out of him. He feels the warmth in his cheeks as he blushes profusely, the number of eyes turning to look at him being just enough to make him squirm. "I'm Jeno." 

Everybody in the room besides Johnny blinks at him in surprise. 

Even Johnny seems to have stopped rummaging to see the anticipated reaction on everyone else's faces. 

It seems as though the silence was going to stretch on indefinitely, like they had been suspended in a fragment in time like they did in one of the Spy Kids movies, but then someone dared to utter something to shatter the bubble.

One of the boys, who was sitting on the knitted rug in the middle of the cabin with his legs crossed, muttered ever so quietly- 

"Why is your foot purple?" 

Alarmed, Jeno casts a glance to his foot and almost immediately upon seeing it he starts to feel lightheaded. 

His foot was completely and utterly _violet_. 

The catching of his breath hinges in his throat. 

His vision fades around the edges.

The last thing he remembers is Johnny calling his name.

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"I can't believe you just did that-"

"How else were we supposed to know what it was? Bruises don't taste sweet-"

"You don't even know this guy! He might not have washed his feet in weeks-"

"Gee, Mark. Thank you _so much_ for that mental image."

"I was only making a point. If you want to suck the new recruits toes after just a couple of hours of knowing him, be my guest-"

"I was not sucking his toes! There's a difference between a _suck_ and a _lick_. You of all people should know that by now-"

_**Whack!** _

"No need. There was absolutely _no need_ for that Johnny-" 

Jeno begins to stir from his black out, feeling significantly groggy and hangover-like as he comes to his senses slowly. As he regains feeling in his toes and fingertips, his hearing tunes back in to what he can only describe as an utterly bizarre conversation. 

"Well, may I remind you of the way you were looking at the new recruit when he walked into the office earlier-"

"Shut up!" 

"You were ready to pull your camp-issued pants down then and there, a quickie on site-"

"I would _never_ -"

" _'Oooh, I don't even know your name but please let me suck you toes-'_ "

Jeno's head feels dramatically heavy against the thin pillows, his back aching as it pressed into the hard mattress beneath him. He wants to just curl up to fall into a deep slumber, but the presence of at least two people in the room seems to make this thought somewhat inappropriate. At least for now.

_And what were they talking about anyway?_ He can't help but think. _Licking?_

He lies there for a second longer, allowing the argument to blossom above him. Whoever Mark was, he didn't sound happy with Johnny. Johnny, just like his usual character (at least from what Jeno had observed), didn't seem the slightest bit bothered. If anything, he was enjoying the situation.

As Jeno absorbs his surroundings without his sight, not daring to open his eyes for a second in case he missed something, he becomes acutely aware of a draft slipping into the cabin from somewhere.

This wouldn't have been too much of an issue for the cabin itself was rather stuffy and hot. However, the draft immediately alerted Jeno to the fact his toe was...

His toe on his throbbing foot was _wet_. 

"Why is my toe wet?" 

The argument that had been continuing above Jeno's head ceases immediately. 

Opening his eyes slowly, as if sensing he's about to be blinded with the level of light in the room, he comes face to face with two people staring down at him. Jeno finds comfort in the fact that he can immediately identify one of them. Johnny glances down at the boy on the bed with a relieved expression as he realises Jeno seems to be fine, screaming for joy inside for he knows he doesn't have to drive anyone to the hospital. 

Blinking in quick succession to dispel the harshness of the sunlight in the room, Jeno begins to take in the other guy who was standing on the opposite side of the bed to him. 

As his eyes adjust and Jeno begins to take in the guy on the right, Johnny starts rambling.

"That's an interesting story-" He begins, sounding bashful to say the least. His cheeks were rapidly turning fuchsia and his eyes suddenly couldn't meet Jeno's at all. 

The guy, of whom Jeno realises he had been staring at, shoots Johnny a withered look as if he knew it would come down to Johnny embarrassing himself at some point today.  
The guy attempts to busy himself with reordering an open box that stands at the end of the bed, his eyes rolling as he does so.

Johnny starts talking about how he had needed to cleanse the foot for health and safety reasons, but Jeno wasn't really listening to him at all.

His eyes had completely adjusted to the room now, and it didn't take him long to become absolutely transfixed with the guy on his right. 

"He sucked your toe." The guy stated, returning from the end of the bed to save Johnny's ass from total humiliation.

The guy wasn't as tall as Johnny, yet he wasn't afraid to put up a fight from what Jeno had heard while he'd been 'unconscious'. He wore the same khaki theme Johnny did, except he seemed to have tied his shirt around his waist as if to style it out a bit. He had to give him credit, he looked more like a trendy explorer rather than Johnny's ancient get-up. 

"I did not- I mean, I _might_ have-"

"You did."

"Mark, let me tell the story."

The guy, who Jeno knew now was Mark, had a soft mop of black hair on the top of his head, curling as it touched his forehead. Rather stunningly, Mark's big brown eyes seemed to glitter with the bright sunlight in the room, his wide pupils looking at Jeno with more sympathy than Jeno felt he truly deserved. 

Something about the way Mark held himself and the way he looked at Jeno, made Jeno feel instant likability to him. 

"Basically," Mark began, cutting off whatever story Johnny had concocted, "your foot was purple because Johnny accidentally stumbled into a berry bush just down the path near to where you dropped your luggage. Your foot must have been wedged in the bush because you had a healthy coating of blackberry juice all over it." 

Despite not being concussed or anything, Jeno doesn't particularly remember much about the journey on Johnny's back, most of it being filled with Johnny's groans and cries of pain from Jeno's weight. 

The cogs in his mind start turning on overdrive as he begins to come to terms with what was happening. _So if there was blackberry juice on my foot, and they wanted to know what it was..._

The pieces seem to slot together automatically. Then the indignation started.

"You _licked_ my foot-?" 

"Ah-" Johnny cuts him off immediately, wanting to shut that down before it got out of hand. "-it was a _lick_ , Mark. See? Jeno knows no one was sucking any of his toes."

Mark turned to Jeno, grinning mischievously. "Not yet anyway." He said, winking shamelessly. 

Jeno gasps, unable to help himself. Mark had already gone in with a rude comment and they'd only just met. As if this situation couldn't get any weirder.

"Jesus Christ, Mark. And you were trying to call me creepy-"

"I didn't mean it-!"

Not quite knowing what to say in this bizarre situation, Jeno looks from Johnny to Mark in the hopes one of them could wake him up from what could only be described as the weirdest nightmare he'd ever had.

So far; he'd been abandoned by his sister, he'd been sick all over the front steps of the Hell Desk, he'd had bruises scattering the backs of his legs from his suitcases flying into his limbs, he'd sprained his ankle so bad he couldn't walk on it and now he'd had two dudes he'd only just met lick his toe to taste it.

Attempting to sit up in bed once more, Jeno rises with his back against the head board, Mark and Johnny still bickering above him.

After being so dazed by the whole situation of passing out and waking up with a wet toe, he hadn't even considered that there would be someone else in the room besides Johnny and Mark. 

There's a giggle from the left hand side of the bed, and it most certainly wasn't Johnny. Jeno doubted Johnny had ever giggled in his life.

Jeno's eyes fly open at the sound. Immediately, he comes into direct eye contact with a boy sitting at the end of the bed.

The both of them stopped what they were doing mid motion, taking a moment to look at one another and assess the company. 

The boy beams almost immediately, his cheeks noticeably turning a soft pink. He doesn't shy away from looking directly at Jeno, grinning at him as if they'd known each other for years. The confidence seems to catch him off-guard as Jeno usually can't look at people for more than ten seconds before he loses his self-confidence. 

"Oh- uh...hi?" The boy says, rather bashfully as he'd been caught staring. "I'm Chenle."

Chenle's eyes curve with the impact of his smile, his bright little face adding even more light into the room. The presence of Chenle seems warm and welcoming, alerting Jeno to the fact they're practically the same age, and it's something he oddly finds some comfort in. 

The kid had bright blonde hair, so blonde it only made his face look even brighter and more stunning than it already was. His skin was flawless and the confident way he smiled at Jeno, how _sweetly and genuinely_ he smiled at Jeno, made him seem like sugar canes in human form. 

"Hi." Jeno says smiling back, attempting to reciprocate the same level of warmth.

He hopes it doesn't seem forced, but he's kind of beyond smiling and more delving into the side of weirded-out at the present moment.

This really did feel like some kind of sitcom. 

Jeno notices, as he looks down the bed at Chenle, that his throbbing foot had been bandaged neatly. It was wrapped around the tender part of his ankle and had been done by what appeared to be a professional. It's so carefully done it looks as if it were something from a medical drama on TV. The tightness of the bandage also reduced the swelling and the throbbing in equal measure, something Jeno was beyond glad about.

He looks up at Johnny and Mark in surprise, noticing that they might just have done something an _adult_ would do in this situation. When he realises they're too engrossed in an argument to even notice that Jeno was trying to get their attention, he looks to Chenle.

"Did you bandage it for me?" He asks.

Chenle's smile transforms on his face, turning into bashful and shy rather than the radiant first introduction he had seen before. 

"Oh...uhm...yeah. Yeah, I did." He itches the back of his head and turns his face away in an attempt to hide the blush on his face. "If it's not tight enough I can do it again-"

"No! No, it's perfect." Jeno says, sitting up further so he could look slightly more appreciative for the gesture than he would do in his sleepy slump against the head board. "Thank you." 

Chenle beams at him again, still looking slightly bashful by nature. 

Jeno wants to ask him where he gathered the skills to do such effective first aid like that, but he never gets the words out in time. 

Abruptly, the peace in the room (despite the quiet comments Mark and Johnny were making about each other in an attempt to win whatever argument they had started) seemed to shatter indefinitely. 

Chenle, Jeno, Mark and Johnny whip their heads around in the direction of the door. 

There's the ear-splitting sound of the door being knocked open and the frame squealing in protest, the sounds of suitcase wheels hitting the cabin floor and rolling into the room unaccompanied and the unmistakeable racket of teenage boys complaining about something insignificant.

"I wanted to go first-"

"Well, tough shit-"

"Why did I have to carry the shoe-?"

Three boys stumbled into the room after the luggage had rolled in unhandled, yelling amongst themselves for various reasons. The break in the silence was enough to burst the bubble of quiet atmosphere they had forged for themselves within the cabin. Apparently it was enough to burst the bubble of quietness that had overtaken the whole summer camp.

Jeno knew instantly that these were the boys who had been in the cabin before when he had fainted.

"Johnny, Mark-" 

"We've got Jeno's luggage-"

"I think you mean _I_ have Jeno's luggage. You two didn't even help-"

"Liar! I carried the shoe!"

One by one they marched into the room, each one of them pausing in their tracks to look at Jeno. He was sitting there on the bed, blinking in surprise at the additional light from the outside and the appearance of fresh faces. 

They seem to look at one another for a few seconds, just in surprise that this was how they were meeting each other for the first time. 

Johnny was the one to break the silence between them, which is somewhat surprising considering he had been the one to preserve such a virtue before when it had been just Jeno and him. 

"Did you make sure to get his shoe too?" 

Through the moments that pass (mostly involving Johnny and Mark asking the boys questions about various things), Jeno takes the chance to take the new faces in one by one. 

The one who had managed to stumble through the door just after the suitcases had rolled in on their own accord was frighteningly tiny. He must have been no thicker in his body than a stick of celery, every part of him built thin. From his wrists and to his narrow shoulders, he looked delicate and fragile. He had a heart shaped face and kind small eyes, making him look the ultimate image of innocence. 

The boy just behind him was paused mid motion of falling, one of his legs kicked out and stopped in mid-air. When they had burst through the door, he had just merely blinked up at Jeno with lips parted, as if in awe of Jeno's transformation from when he had seen him last. This kid's jawline was sharp and his build was narrower than the one before him, a torso shaped almost exactly like a triangle. As he was talking to Mark about something, he shrugged his shoulders and Jeno noticed something peculiar about his build. The kid lacked the shoulders that all the other boys seemed to have, and it appeared as if he had been born and modelled in a cylinder tube his whole life. 

Jeno's eyes move briefly to everyone else in the room, allowing conversations to unfold around him as he studies each of the people in the room now. However, as his eyes shift from Cylinder-Build to the third guy, he nearly chokes in surprise. 

The last boy, despite all the commotion in the room and potential distractions, was leaning against the door frame unbothered by the noise. He looked as if he were enjoying the scene in front of him, whilst simultaneously finding it irritating. Jeno wondered subconsciously what the guy was actually looking at, but then realised it with a violent jolt.

The guy was staring directly at Jeno.

Despite the several questions and answers that were flying around the room, the guy was only looking at Jeno. 

The eye to eye contact caused Jeno to immediately release some kind of adrenaline, as fear of eye-contact was one of his worst personal foes. 

Deep brown eyes locked with lighter hazelnut eyes. 

No matter how hard he tries, he can't look away. 

It was as if he had been transfixed into a staring contest with this guy, someone using The Force in order to have such a strong and frightening hold on him. 

Gulping audibly, Jeno begins to realise something about the third guy almost immediately after they made intruding eye contact with one another. 

The guy is strikingly pretty. 

Like, _unbelievably_ pretty. 

Soft brown hair that curled expertly on his forehead in the shape of a comma, brown and bright crescent eyes that glistened like Mark's and a tall build with wide shoulders. 

Jeno sucked in a breath. 

He, rather embarrassingly, couldn't tear his eyes away. 

This guy was watching him with an amused grin on his face, his arms folded and leaning on the door frame casually. He proceeded to drink in every inch of Jeno's form from across the room like Jeno couldn't very obviously see him. His eyes trailed along Jeno's body, lingering on the bandage around his foot and - alarmingly - his toes peaking out of the top of the white gauze. 

Jeno, upon realising what the guy was staring at, must have twitched his toes in subconscious reaction. This move only caused the guy to look back at Jeno's face at the top of the bed, and as if the situation couldn't be anymore strange, the guy raised an eyebrow at him. 

The flirtatious behaviour was enough to make Jeno suck in a breath of shock, and in doing so he provided himself with a fleet of hearty coughs that rumbled in his chest like thunder. If he hadn't been embarrassed to be stared at in such a way alone, he was most certainly embarrassed now.

As Jeno coughed like tuberculosis on steroids, the guy looked away, the smirk on his lips only growing wider as the shade of red on Jeno's cheeks deepened with every passing minute. 

It was looking as though Jeno was getting all of his embarrassing moments for the year out of the way in one day. It just so happened, rather delightfully, that it would be today of all days.

"So," 

Mark began, speaking a bit louder so that everyone knew it was a public address rather than just to the guys he'd been talking to before. It seemed to be enough to allow Jeno to stop watching the other guy. 

"We've got a few little things to do before we can let you guys get to know each other." 

The three boys who had stumbled in with Jeno's luggage shuffled further into the cabin. They made themselves a little more comfortable by sitting in various spots around the small room, Cylinder-Build vacating the opposite end of the mattress to Chenle and the Celery-Guy opting to perch on the bedside table. 

The other guy rather interestingly decided to sit in the furthest corner away from all of them, scooting onto the ottoman box that sat pressed against the far wall of the room despite there being closer places to sit. 

No one said a word, and if anyone else had noticed the strange action of the guy then they didn't dare speak. Perhaps it was just Jeno being overly analytic. 

"Okay so, do any of you know the first rule of Camp Kawanaka?" 

All the boys look at each other in expectation, waiting for someone else to speak. 

As if on queue, Chenle's hand shot right into the air. 

"Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night."

The look on Mark's face would have made an excellent post card. 

"Not quite." As if he wasn't willing to risk any other suggestions after that rather brown note, he states - "Always be with a buddy!" 

Johnny nods behind him, leaning against the wall like a bouncer waiting to strike at the first sign of trouble. Mark continues, sounding far too optimistic in comparison to the words coming out of his mouth. 

"We're going to put you into pairs now. These pairs will be your best camping buddy for the remainder of the summer." 

Although the groan wasn't audible, there was definitely a collective tension and distaste to the idea that fizzled around the room like a shit sparkler. 

Mark, oblivious to the mood, continued with a beaming smile. 

"You will share a cabin with your buddy, you'll eat lunch with your buddy, you'll complete your training with your buddy, you'll manage the campers with your buddy. In short-"

"You're with your buddy." The guy in the far corner stated, rolling his eyes as if this whole thing was below him. 

Jeno didn't dislike many people, but the way the guy was immediately dismissing Mark's upkeep of the positive attitude wasn't sitting well with Jeno's morals. At least Mark was trying his best to make it sound exciting, when they were all aware (including Mark), that it wasn't exciting at all. 

"Exactly!" Mark glowed, Johnny still nodding along behind him.

"Okay, so we've done the pairs randomly. We sorted you into buddies about two months ago after your applications were accepted." 

All the boys in the room seemed to sit up a little bit straighter, preparing themselves for a happy bit of news or a summer-long prison sentence depending on who they got. 

Johnny pulled the returning khaki clipboard back into his hands from the sideboard where he had dumped it earlier, rifling through two sheets of paper that were clipped on it as though he couldn't find the written pairs through _all of those notes_. 

"Okay so, Renjun-"

The guy, who was perched on the end of the bed Jeno was sitting on, straightened himself up. 'Renjun' was the Cylinder-dude. 

"You're going to be with Jisung." 

The guy that had seated himself on the edge of the bedside cabinet nodded toward Renjun, alerting Jeno that his name was in fact Jisung. 

The two shared a glance and a small wave, of which elicited a small enamoured squeal from Mark. Apparently, or at least by deducing the look on his pretty face, he found the two insanely cute. 

"Next we have Chenle..." 

Chenle sat up, the bed shifting as he altered his weight distribution. 

Although Jeno didn't really know any of them that well, Chenle had definitely been the warmest out of them all. He'd wrapped Jeno's foot so carefully and had been so happy to meet him earlier that if Jeno wanted to be anybodies buddy, it would be Chenle's. 

Sadly...

"You'll be going with me." 

Everyone looked at Johnny in surprise, including Chenle. 

Johnny seemed to notice the unexpected reaction and shrugged. "There was no one else." 

The heartless response seemed to trigger something in Chenle, his weight slumping down onto the bed and resting his chin in his palm with a pout gracing his mouth.

Johnny noticed, and muttered "and Chenle's the nicest one here out of you assholes-"

"And the next pair!" Mark said a little too loudly, masking Johnny's backhanded compliment to the rest of them. The side comment had revived Chenle's blinding smile however, pleased at the thought that he wasn't the worst asshole there. 

"Haechan-"

"He's still at the help desk." Renjun muttered offhandedly. 

Mark nodded. "Well anyways, he'll be rooming with me. Someone tell him when he gets back."

Jeno, who was still yet to meet Haechan, noticed how red and inflamed Mark's ears seemed to get just at the mention of this guy's name. Whoever Haechan was, it wasn't hard to guess that Mark felt quite the attraction to him. 

Apparently Johnny had noticed this little detail too as he was already reaching forward to twist Mark's ear playfully. 

With a scowl and a blush growing on his slightly chubby cheeks, Mark batted him away.

"So that leaves Jeno and-"

Noticing that all the people were now paired up, Jeno feels his stomach begin to fall helplessly down. 

_Oh great. FUCKING GRE-_

"- Jaemin."

Jeno, who should have definitely seen this coming from ten thousand miles away, casts his gaze to the other side of the room in absolute dread. He does his best to remain neutral, regardless of his feelings.

The guy, who Jeno now knows is called Jaemin, looks at him in amusement again. It's the same patronising look he had shot him before, a small smirk and a fold of the arms. 

Jaemin raises one hand very slowly, untucking it from the fold across his chest. He then wiggles his fingers at Jeno, that smug grin never leaving his face.

Jeno, despite being a relatively harmless creature, definitely wasn't feeling up to the 'buddy' status Camp Kawanakwa was trying to ram down his throat.

He falls back against the head board of the bed once more. His eyes cast from a smug and irritating Jaemin down to his carefully bandaged foot. On the cuff of his jeans that were brushing against the edges of the bandage, he saw a few droplets of acidic yellow that had sunk into the fabric. It was vomit. 

Closing his eyes in embarrassment, he can't help but feel sickness creep into his empty stomach once more.

Once again, Mark decided to ignore the negative vibes in the room out of determination to upkeep his positive attitude. 

"Let's get you guys in your cabins so you can meet your buddies!" He stated, already skipping to the door of the cabin.

Jeno kept his eyes closed.

This was going to be one long summer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello! 
> 
> Thank you all for the wonderful feedback on the last chapter! 
> 
> Please don't be too mad for the slow uploads, this chapter is 18,000 words. Cut me some slack lol. Also I've been on vacation for a few days so sorry it took so long! 
> 
> I'm really excited to see where this is going, and as always, leave me feedback please! They really inspire me to keep going even when I'm struggling to write certain parts, they really are the most uplifting things to read.
> 
> Lots of love xx

Mark marched to the door of the cabin, his arms swinging by his sides and his feet creaking on every single floorboard that could possibly have touched his toes. Every creak was making Jeno cringe, the sound filling the deafening silence of the cabin somewhat intrusively.

One by one, with an air of reluctance, the boys followed suit and trailed along behind him, single file like ducklings all the way to the doorframe. 

Jeno realises he's going to have to stand on his own, and he manages to swing his feet over the edge of the bed in order to initate a standing position. He's just in the process of leaning forwards onto the tips of his toes when someone comes barrelling past him. 

Jaemin, of whom had stormed up from his chair in the corner and stalked towards the door with tension littering his body language, managed to walk directly into the spot where Jeno's ankle had been seconds earlier. 

The breeze of Jaemin's walk past him is enough for the bandage on his foot to wave softly in the cross wind. Jeno sucks in a breath, realising how much that would have hurt him had his swelled foot been in the position it was in seconds before. 

Jaemin continued walking as though nothing had happened. 

Jeno immediately would have written it off as a potential accident, however the fact that Jaemin turned when he passed through the doorway to scowl bitterly at the helpless boy on the bed - implying that maliciousness was intended - left Jeno at a loss for words. 

He said nothing.

It was only as Johnny neared the door that he realised something crucial. 

"Oh shit, yeah-" 

He spins around in the direction of Jeno, of whom was doing his utmost best to reach the edge of the bed without drastically knocking his foot against any part of the frame. FYI, this manoeuvre was not going successfully. Especially not since Jaemin's close call. 

"Here." 

Johnny moves to the edge of the bed, getting on his knees and turning away from him so he was exposing his back. 

Jeno, paused in mid shuffle, blinks at him. "What are you-?" 

"Piggy-back ride." He replies, as if this was supposed to be obvious. 

Somewhat concerned with placing all of his body weight onto Johnny for the second time today, Jeno tries to ease himself onto the tall guy's frame carefully with the knowledge that he could accidentally crush him. He was a growing boy after all. Well... he'd like to call himself _man_ but he knows that Hyunjae would have laughed at that. 

"Ooft... shit, okay." Johnny wheezes as Jeno lets his whole body sit on his back rather ungracefully.

Upon noticing that the group had already started wandering down the trail away from them, Johnny instinctively yelled, "guys!", allowing Jeno time to blush as every single one of them turned in surprise to gawk at them. 

It must have looked quite bizarre. 

Johnny's six-foot frame was towering anyway, but with the addition of Jeno's blushing face resting on his shoulder and his long legs tangled around Johnny's middle for stability, they must have looked like...

"Lovers?" 

It was Jaemin that spoke, his mouth curving up into a humourless smile. "Oh I believe it's called the bridesmaid style, Johnny." His tone was mocking, and while his eyes glided over Johnny all too briefly, his gaze rested on Jeno for an uncomfortable amount of time.

Jeno, absolutely bewildered at this sudden comment, could only stare back with a level gaze. When it seemed clear that Jaemin wasn't backing down, Jeno could bare it no longer and looked away bashfully. 

The way Chenle had to hide his mouth behind his hand as Johnny jogged towards them, Jeno jolting on his back like a jockey on a horse, was telling as to how ridiculous this seemed. 

"Sorry, Jeno." Mark said, turning around to shoot him an apologetic look. "Well," he says, grinning at the collection of boys waiting for an instruction, "shall we carry on?" 

Everyone blinks at him, silence spreading between them once more.

Mark, not missing a beat, smiles "okay then!" 

And they all continued marching, Mark pointing out various buildings of importance from the washrooms to the laundry rooms.

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Gradually the pairs began veering off into their respective cabins, entering each new cabin with a mildly suppressed look of disgust. 

It was an understatement to say these cabins were on the dilapidated side. 

When Renjun stepped into his cabin with Jisung hot on his heels, the door handle had literally fallen off in his hand and left a deep splinter into the pad of his thumb. Jisung had looked somewhat concerned until he was also distracted by pain, standing on a loose floorboard's edge that uprighted itself into his upper thigh with the sudden weight shift. 

Mark, who wanted to quickly move past the situation before any choice words could be spoken, had quickly closed the cabin door and proceeded to beam at the remainder of the group outside.

He opened his mouth to speak, however he was disrupted by a rather loud bang followed by a tumble of strong swear words that emanated from the innards of the cabin.

The curse words were enough to make Johnny raise his eyebrows in surprise, shooting a look at Mark with a small smirk on his face. 

"I think they're making themselves at home." Jaemin said, picking idly at a hang nail on his index finger. 

Mark didn't know where to look, so instead he opted to continue marching ahead- preferably away from the cabin door. "Shall we move on? Let's move on."

They walked in silence towards Chenle's and Johnny's cabin, Chenle naturally falling into the step beside Jeno's leg as it dangled from Johnny's side. Somehow the two of them had both formed some kind of solidarity pact within this strange chain of events, whether it be because Jeno had a kind and approachable face or whether Chenle was just the most naturally friendly person ever to exist. Jeno, who was glad of the budding friendship, didn't mind either. 

When they did eventually reach Chenle's cabin, Johnny appeared to spring into unprecedented action. 

He immediately let go of Jeno, meaning the boy slid off of his back and landed uneasily against Mark and almost toppled them both over with the sudden movement. Johnny didn't even turn to see what had happened to the injured boy, instead opting to run ahead to gain first access to the room. He was so desperate to get through he even shoved Jaemin roughly out of his way like a defence player in American Football, something which an already disapproving Jaemin wasn't overly pleased about. He carefully avoided falling into a Holly bush by side stepping Jeno and Mark and leaning himself against the banister of the cabin stairwell. Johnny, who was apparently unstoppable, manoeuvred around Mark's stumbling form and snatched the key out of the camp leader's out-stretched hand. He shoved it dramatically into the lock, all of them staring at him in surprise. 

Mark just rolled his eyes as he continued helping Jeno over his shoulder.

Apparently this was normal.

Johnny opened the door and shouldered his way inside, immediately taking the distance from the door to the bunk beds at a sprint and pole volting over the barrier to the top bunk. 

He landed with such force onto the top mattress that a proportionate layer of dust exploded into the air, clouding over his khaki form and shielding him from view. 

Chenle wandered inside after him, slightly dejected he hadn't secured the top bunk for himself.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be adults?" Jaemin asked, studying Johnny's feet in his pink flip-flops that poked out the end of the bunk through narrowed eyes. 

Mark, who for once actually appeared to be on the same page as Jaemin, nodded. "Apparently, yes." He too turned towards Johnny. "Perhaps he didn't get the memo."

Jeno watched as Johnny clambered back down the bunk's ladder, his long legs taking each rung at a time even though his tall frame could have easily just jumped down and landed safely on the floor. More of a step than a jump actually. 

"I did, in fact, get the memo. It's just not rammed up my ass like it is in yours." Johnny quipped, causing Mark to gasp quietly as though he wasn't used to getting burned with such ferocity.

Jaemin smiled then, as if the roasting was something he admired Johnny for. Perhaps that was something close to progress in establishing common ground?

Johnny looked remarkably like a man-child in that moment; totally overgrown and lanky yet proceeding to shoot finger guns towards Mark in the doorway and shoot a shit-eating grin at Chenle with a following crisp high-five. 

Mark sighed.

"Okay, and the final cabin is yours right?" He asked, turning to Jeno and Jaemin - of whom couldn't have been stood further apart if they had tried. 

"Unfortunately..." Jaemin muttered, clearly disgusted by the idea. Jeno wasn't exactly on the thrilled side either. 

The three of them began walking back down the path, Johnny eventually catching up to Jeno - of whom was hobbling along a lot slower than the other two - and hauled him back onto his back. 

The physical fitness of Johnny seemed to be beyond impressive at this point.

They all fell into a comfortable silence again as they wandered towards the next cabin, which allowed Jeno a quick moment to himself. 

_It's totally fine._ He thought. _It's not even going to be that bad. What are you so stressed about? It's only nine weeks. Only nine weeks... Oh my fucking **God** nine **weeks**? Nine weeks with Jaemin? It's only been a couple of hours and already I just want to go home. Maybe it isn't too late to call Hyunjae, maybe I could just go to the Hell Desk to find some sig-_

It appeared his moment to himself was making him significantly worse off. 

"Uh...dude?"

Jeno snaps out of his daze, noticeably distant as the weight of his thoughts truly sunk in. _Nine weeks_.

It was Mark, and he was looking at Jeno worriedly. 

"You're like...really pale." He scans the boy on Johnny's shoulders thoroughly. "Do you feel like you're going to faint again? Because if you do maybe we should think about getting you to a hospital, the fall might have been worse than we thought-"

Jeno begins to become very embarrassed. "No, no!" He cried, shaking his head quickly. "I'm just a little bit overwhelmed, that's all." 

Mark narrows his eyes at him, and Jeno knows he's going to have to pull at Mark's heartstrings in an attempt for him to drop the idea of wimping out to the ER. 

"It's just, I've never really been away from home before." 

Immediately after speaking he feels utterly ridiculous, somewhat conscious in hindsight that that statement might be fuel for Jaemin later on. He feels himself blushing deeply. Despite the statement being true, Jeno wishes beyond anything else that it could have been an obvious lie. He didn't want to be the 'baby' or the mommy's boy. He wanted to stop making a fool of himself in front of other people, however that didn't look like it was stopping any time soon. 

The idea seems to work though, for Mark lets out a sigh and reaches his hand up to clutch at his heart through his khaki shirt. "That's so adorable! Johnny did you hear that-?"

While Mark repeats what was said to Johnny, of whom clearly couldn't be any less interested, Jeno finds himself glancing over at Jaemin in apprehension. 

Jaemin walks up ahead, his hands shoved deep into his pockets and his back completely straight - his posture flawless. He was obviously not ashamed of who he was. His proud shoulders and his raised chin are clear indicators of the exuding levels of self-pride.

He walks with his back to the other three, and if he had heard what Jeno had just said, he didn't show any sign that he cared. 

"So you've never been away from home before?" Johnny asks, tapping Jeno's leg to regain his attention. He seems somewhat surprised, and even _interested_ which all in all didn't really fit Johnny's persona in the slightest. Caught off guard by this, Jeno lets the silence rest for a moment.

Mark looks up at him expectantly, and if Jeno wasn't mistaken, Jaemin seemed to turn his head ever so slightly in order to pick up on the conversation happening behind him. 

"I mean, my baseball team stayed overnight in Incheon once during the Inter Private School Tournament-"

Johnny and Mark simultaneously squeal, patting the closest part of Jeno's body to them in comfort. There was a chorus of 'awwh's and 'cuuuttteee's from the pair of them, and it did nothing to irradiate the blush on Jeno's cheeks.

Jeno notices acutely that Jaemin's shoulders seem to shake. Is he _laughing_ at him? 

"You've never been out and seen the world, Jeno." Mark smiles at him, much like an older brother who fondly recalls the innocence of his younger. It's not patronising in the slightest, and Jeno actually gains some degree of warmth from Mark's brotherly affections.

It was hard to admit that he liked Mark this much as a person after only just meeting him.

"I guess so." Is all Jeno replies, allowing the comments to continue regardless. 

To say he's never really thought about it before would be a total lie, but he decides to exit that deep personal reflection.

"Well, maybe Camp Kawanakwa will be that chance for you." Mark adds, beaming up at Jeno as if that could solve all of his problems. 

_Fat chance._ He thinks.

They eventually come to a halt outside the door to the cabin, and somehow this one seemed to be the worst out of all of them so far. 

The wood seemed flaky and, even from the front step, Jeno could see some kind of traces of woodworm around the doorframe. The curtains were laced with mildew and the windows were mostly fogged over with condensation, allowing very little tell of what kind of set up the inside looked like. 

Jaemin, who was in front of them all and therefore the first to walk into the shack, stepped forwards onto the initial wooden stair to climb to the doorway. 

Jaemin, who was on the lighter side of humanity with his narrow build and slim fit everything, managed to send the step snapping in two. 

The break was immediate and was clean as a whistle, ear splintering but over with in a matter of seconds. 

He just stood there, his foot planted on the packed soil with two bits of wood splintered apart on his heel. 

No one moved.

"Well..." Johnny began, sounding just as awkward as he had done a few hours ago when he had witnessed Jeno vomiting all over the Hell Desk steps. "That's new." 

Mark scrambled to fix the look of thunder that was slowly clouding Jaemin's face. "There was- er- some- um- there was some water damage from the lake over the winter season," he began, already bending down to scoop up the splinted stairs. Not knowing what else to do with them, he launched them over his shoulder into the bushes behind the cabin in an attempt to get them out of sight. "Maintenance haven't had time to come over and fix it yet. It means the wood of the cabin might be slightly problematic, at least until replacement wood is found-" 

"I've got to sleep in this?" Jaemin sighed, turning to Mark with exasperation written all over his face like a tattoo. 

"Uh..." Was all Mark could manage. 

It was enough for Jaemin, who stormed past him whilst muttering something about using the whole cabin for firewood. 

The boy in front opened the door of the cabin and marched in, his foot steps causing the whole cabin to creak and complain under the boy's pristine white trainers. The noises that erupted from the wood made Johnny's back muscles tense noticeably, for Jeno felt the movement under his palms. 

Mark looked like he wanted to tell Jaemin to walk a little lighter on his feet in case he fell through the cabin floor, but decided that it would be best not to for it might make things worse. 

Lightly, Mark and Johnny with Jeno on his back trailed into the cabin after him.

It was safe to say the inside looked exactly like you would think it would. 

In one word: rickety.

Definitely rickety. 

"Oh Jesus." Johnny groaned, bending down to set Jeno onto the bottom bunk of the bed that had been rammed against the far wall. Talk about squatting, for the bed was basically touching the floor and Johnny was a tall guy. The bend of his legs and his lack of shaking under Jeno's weight was impressive, Jeno would have told him as much if it hadn't have sounded like the weirdest compliment ever. 

Jeno wriggled off of Johnny's back and bounced upon the mattress, feeling relief in all the muscles that had been tensed in order to keep him upright. 

"Thank you."

"No problem, m-" 

"Cut the shit." 

Jaemin sighs, rubbing his temples with his fingertips. 

The three of them turn to look at him in surprise, their eyes following him as he wandered around the cabin inspecting its contents. 

As he threw back the hideous yellow curtains, he scowled at the levels of mildew and mould that had gathered behind it like any look he could shoot it would send it back to the vapour it had come from. 

Jeno didn't doubt that that scowl _could_ send it back into vapour.

"Why have all the other guys got cabins that are alright? Don't get me wrong guys, I wasn't expecting five star luxury at a _pissing summer camp_ but this-"

He gestured with a broad sweep of his arm. 

"- _this_ is taking the absolute royal pis-"

"We don't have any other choice." 

Everyone looked at Jeno in complete surprise. 

Jeno continued without noticing, finding that despite his usually temperate levels of irritation serving him without snapping for seventeen years, now appeared to be the time his temper began to raise its ugly head. 

"What other option do we have? It's this or we both pitch a two man tent for the next nine weeks." 

For clarification, Jeno's 'raising his temper' was probably the most polite and mannered passive-aggressive response to any argument you've ever witnessed, in fact his sister Hyunjae often reminded him of such whenever they got into a sibling 'argument'.

It seemed to work most of the time, and this time did not go a miss either. 

Jaemin, who had fallen dangerously quiet, glowered at him as if his gaze could burn a hole in Jeno's skull. His jaw was set and his chin was still pointing into the air above his head, yet he was still unmistakably _fuming_. 

He folded his arms, glaring at Jeno without breaking. 

The silence seemed to stretch on for an uncomfortably long time, so much so that Jeno had time to count the heartbeats in between the silence and Jaemin's eventual cave in. He replied with a bitter grimace shot directly at Jeno. 

"Fine."

It seemed it had not just been Jeno who had sensed hostile vibes from Jaemin, for Mark _and_ Johnny were looking between them both like a tennis match at Wimbledon. The look of concern that flashed over Mark's face didn't pass Jeno by, neither did the raise of an eyebrow from Johnny. 

Trying to stand his ground, Jeno folded his arms too, and sat back against the mattress casually. 

This didn't seem to please Jaemin anymore than the entire situation had thus far. 

"If anything breaks tonight-" Jaemin began, an eerie calm in his tone. He pointed at a selection of most-likely-to-break objects that were scattered around the room (these included the hanging wardrobe doors, the uneven floorboards and the pitiful ladder to the top bunk). "- I'm going to be kicking Uno out of this room and he can sleep on the beach." 

Realising that he was 'Uno', Jeno began to make a noise of protest but was quickly shut down, one finger still raised in the air as if he was ready to make his point. 

He only needed to glance over at Jaemin before he realised it was over before it had even started. 

Jaemin was glaring at him, a smirk on his lips just like it had been in the doorway of Johnny's cabin earlier.

"Ah," he smiled sweetly at him, "or you could pitch a tent outside."

Jeno couldn't recall how many times he had had his ass handed to him today, but out of all of the times it had happened, he'd prefer them _all_ rather than experience this moment for even a second longer.

He seemed to very much enjoy the look of distaste and a sour scowl that passed over Jeno's features. It seemed to be the ultimate win for him for he couldn't help but add, somehow even sweeter than before, "it was _your_ idea after all." 

Jeno had never wanted to punch someone in the nose before, but on his first major outing since forever, he found that he was gaining all sorts of new sensations today. 

Mark clearly didn't know what to do to. 

He was sitting there, his eyes wide and sparkling as he looked from Jeno to Jaemin in a sudden panic. He was probably thinking about the outcomes of having two counsellors fight each other after only just meeting, and how he'd be two staff members down while the camp just began opening for the summer. 

Johnny seemed to sense this level of panic, perhaps because Mark couldn't stand still and was shifting his weight onto his opposing foot out of habit. The swaying was making Johnny nauseous. 

"Alright guys, I think that's enough." 

They both looked at Johnny, the scowl still permanent on their faces. 

Mark seemed to relax a little. At least they weren't completely out of control for they still seemed able to respond to simple commands. There was hope yet. 

"Mark and I are going to head up to the Mess Hall in order to gather some supplies for dinner later. I've asked Renjun to gather some firewood, maybe one of you could help him." 

Johnny eyed them both, silently suggesting to them that perhaps the most time apart from each other they could spend the better. 

"Sure." 

"Fine."

Johnny seemed satisfied by this.

"Dinner will be at about six o'clock, so just keep checking the time-"

As Johnny gestured to the clock that was ticking away on the opposite wall of the cabin, its nail seemed to give way. It smashed to the floor, rolling around like a dropped nickel before toppling onto the boards with the clock-face down. 

Jaemin sighed again. 

Mark and Johnny, sensing a reoccurrence of the tension that had just began to sizzle down, started backing towards the door quickly. They kept their eyes on Jeno and Jaemin as if they were going to attack each other or them at any given moment, like an unpredictable dangerous dog.

They made a quick paced reverse to the door, reaching blindly for the door handle.

"Anyways, see you guys later!"

Jaemin, stubborn as ever, was having none of it.

"Hang on."

They paused, the door creaking open loudly behind them with Johnny's hand still curled around the knob.

"How are we supposed to tell the time now?"

Mark glanced at the face-down clock. 

"You guys have phones, just use those." 

And then, with a deafening creak from the wood and a slap of the door in the frame, they were gone. 

It must have been silent for a maximum of thirty seconds before Jaemin, seemingly content that they had truly gone and was now able to continue his complaints, resumed marching around the room. He lifted various things up, turned things, opened a window and shifted the beaten knitted rug back into the centre of the room. All the while he made various questionable expressions as he examined everything in the cabin, his brain working to try and make sense of this situation.

Jeno, who could do nothing but sit there and watch inquisitively, said nothing. 

Eventually, after yanking back the yellow curtains and exposing the mould behind them once more, he turned around to Jeno. He looked incredulous. 

"You can't seriously be okay about staying here?" He asked, eyebrows raised. 

Even though Jeno was still bitter about the comments from moments ago, he managed to swallow it down and regain his composure. "Maintenance are going to come and fix it at some point, so let's just stick with it. It's probably water tight, and it's going to be warmer than sleeping outside."

Jaemin wasn't exactly satisfied, but he had nothing further to add so he remained silent. Instead, he made a beeline for the questionable looking ladder to the top bunk and immediately started to clamber up the rungs. 

The creaking they made was beyond worrying and as Jaemin reached the halfway point, the ladder gave a terrifying screech, the rungs creaking under his feet. Needless to say he flew the rest of the way up. 

It wasn't much better when he was seated on the bed for the wood curved even with his little bodyweight and the slats that the mattress sat on revealed holes in the mattress covering that exposed springs and what appeared to be... _hay_. Like actual farmers, grass, eaten-by-horses hay. 

Jaemin was oblivious to this, and Jeno certainly wasn't going to add an additional thing to the list that gave the other an excuse to complain. 

_Definitely_ not.

The mattress shifted above Jeno's head, indicating that the boy above was now lying on his side. Jaemin's fingertips poked over the side of the bed through the planks and pointed inadvertently to the clock on the other side of the room. 

There appeared to be constant reminders as to everything that was going wrong. The squalor was becoming unavoidable. 

"Uno-"

"Why do you call me that?" 

"That's your name."

"My name is _Jen-_ "

"So, Uno," Jaemin pushes, his hands disappearing from the side of the bed. "This whole 'buddy' system should be fun." 

"I'm not convinced."

"No, I guess being with me might be a challenge." Jaemin seems to consider, however the thought quickly dissipates. "But I guess we have to get to know each other, otherwise it's going to be a very long nine weeks. Don't you think?"

"I guess so."

"Good." Jaemin says, his tone brightening. Jeno seems to feel himself warming to the change in atmosphere, and although he's still on the weary side, he wants to approach this situation with positivity. 

"Where should we start?" Jeno suggests as he brightens to the occasion.

"Well..." Jaemin begins, "Let's start with likes and dislikes." 

"Uhm, ok-"

"I don't like: excessive talking, loud eaters, people that wake me up before nine, scrambled eggs, _any_ kind of hotpot, people that ask you for a hotspot when they should just purchase their own data, _snotty noses or colds_ , pollen, ginger cats- actually, cats in general-"

"Sounds like you don't like a lot of things."

"True." Jaemin admits, tapping his fingers against the cabin wall rhythmically. "Oh, and there's also one more thing." 

"What is it?"

The mattress begins to shift again, and this time what appears over the edge of the mattress is not Jaemin's fingertips but rather a set of deep brown eyes and a wisp of floppy hair.

Jaemin looks Jeno directly in the eye, the warmth from his tone gone. The look, even though it's just his eyes that are visible, makes Jeno's blood run slightly colder.

"I don't like people that don't watch where they're going. The kind of people that are stupid enough to fall down rabbit holes in order to attract attention to themselves in social situations." 

Silence.

Jeno shuffles to the edge of the bed and hops up to stand on one foot. He limps to the door as quickly as is manageable, not even looking back as it shudders closed in the frame behind him. 

_Fuck_ Jaemin.

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It seems to be Jeno's luck that he couldn't even march away from him. He half hops half limps to the front of the cabin, shuffling past the window and heading determinedly in the direction of Renjun and Jisung's cabin. If he can't sit in the cabin and chill, he'd rather be helping Renjun prepare a fire. Anything would be better than sitting in the shack with Jaemin for another twenty seconds.

As he's shuffling, he manages to rid his mind of Jaemin somewhat, although his hands are still shaking in rage. _Attention?_ He thinks. _He really believes I fell into the rabbit hole to attract attention to myself?_

He manages to catch wind of a summer breeze that ruffles through the trees, tossing his hair away from his face and cooling himself down to a degree. 

_Perhaps he thinks that because I've never been away from home, I'm just grasping for some kind of mothering in order to feel better/relieve my homesickness? Is that it?_

He breathes slowly in and out, attempting to calm himself. 

He reminds himself that Jaemin doesn't matter this much, at least not enough to start getting himself worked up over.

 _Not all people are nice people,_ he thinks.

"Jeno!" 

The voice came from behind him in the direction of Jaemin's and his cabin. Somehow the very thought that Jaemin might be pursuing him in an attempt to make him feel worse still seems to be enough to make his stomach drop all over again. 

It's only as he turns his head in the direction of the call that he sees a bright head of hair and a familiar smile. 

Chenle.

"Jeno, wait!" 

Realising his sprint-limp was unnecessary, he slows down to a stop and finds his scowl untwisting and rising into a gentle smile. It feels a lot more natural on his face, much more natural than induced and provoked anger. 

Besides, seeing Chenle was a happy sight. 

He's running at full pelt, not breaking that beaming grin for a single second. He looks manic, and it's enough to make Jeno chuckle to himself. 

He only stops running as he reaches an arm length distance from Jeno's chest. His hair had been truly thrown by the velocity of his run and had left him with centre parted bangs, his eyes disappearing in a brilliant eye smile. 

It seems to serve Jeno with a safe reminder that there are nice people out there, just not ones that are buddied with him. 

When Chenle stops, his smile slowly fades into a look of semi-concern. "Where are you going? You should be resting your ankle! You're going to make the swelling worse..."

Jeno looks down at his ankle, honestly wanting to escape Jaemin more than suffer a worse off ankle. 

"I'm sure it'll be fine," he says, "I heal quite quickly."

Chenle seems skeptical at hearing this information, but nods regardless.

Jeno seeks to change the subject. "What have you been up to?"

"Jisung and Haechan were talking to me while they were preparing food with Johnny and Mark in the kitchens, I met them when I went up to get- Oh, yeah! I forgot, I got you an ice pack from the mess hall."

Blinking, Jeno looks down to what Chenle was clutching in his palm. It was indeed a blue ice pack that appeared to be rock solid, frozen over and causing Chenle's hand to turn white. 

The warmth that rolls over Jeno spreads into his heart, lifting his smile further and causing his fingertips to hurt. 

"For me?"

"Yeah, for the swelling."

It was such a wholesome gesture it practically hurt.

"Thank you so much, Chenle. This is great."

He takes it and reaches down to tuck it into the bandage that had been bound earlier. It fits against his ankle perfectly.

Chenle grins at him, nudging his arm and pointing in the opposite direction where Jeno had been heading earlier in search of Renjun. 

"How about we go to the fire pit? You can rest your foot there and we can help Renjun with the firewood."

It sounded like a plan. 

They turned in the direction of where Chenle had been pointing, and started walking side by side. Jeno, through the obvious pain his ankle was causing him, naturally leaned on Chenle as they walked. If the smaller boy had minded, he didn't show it. 

Chenle, who decidedly couldn't let silence simmer for longer than a minute tops, started gushing about how he thought he had witnessed Jisung and Haechan preparing Korean beef in the kitchens. Although such a prospect made Jeno's tummy rumble out of a deep need to be fed (especially with the emptiness of an absent roadside lasagne), his attention was only half on what Chenle was rambling about. 

The both of them were shuffling past Jeno and Jaemin's cabin in the direction Chenle had pointed to, and while Jeno found himself wanting to ignore it out of spite and a lack of interest for what Jaemin was doing, he couldn't help himself but turn his head and peek subtly inside. 

There, still sitting on the top bunk with his legs now hanging down and swinging in the space between the mattresses, was Jaemin. He wasn't moving, at least from what Jeno could see. All he appeared to be doing was staring into space, somewhere in the general direction of the fallen clock on the wall. 

Although Jeno had told himself he didn't care when considering the horrible impression Jaemin had created for himself thus far, he couldn't help but notice how dejected and... _empty_ Jaemin looked. 

The expression was vacant, almost like he felt nothing. It was like he had become numb to all feeling.

Just as quickly as he had taken it in, Jeno looked away as if he had seen something he shouldn't have. There appeared to be an element of guilt that resided in Jeno's stomach as he turned his attention back to Chenle. He couldn't say why exactly, but it felt like he had intruded onto a moment that should have been Jaemin's and nobody else's. 

_Whatever_ , Jeno thinks absentmindedly, _He's still an asshole._

Dismissing the situation, he continued to let Chenle talk for the remainder of the way, content on simply chipping in when it was necessary and allowing the younger to vent some energy out where he could.

Besides, it did no harm to ignore the situation of Jaemin for a little while longer.

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When they reached the fire pit that Mark had vaguely pointed out on their way over to Renjun and Jisung's cabin some twenty minutes ago, they found Jisung hunched over on one of the sitting logs. He appeared to be deep in thought and was studying something intently that lay in his lap.

While Chenle was still talking, apparently about nothing in particular, Jeno motioned that they should walk towards Jisung to see what he was doing. 

It all felt a little bit awkward considering that they all didn't really know each other that well and the initial approach can always be the hardest, but Jeno realised that societal norms forced him to do the awkward bit at least once, so he decided now was the time.

"Hi, Jisung." 

The boy looked up at the other two, pretty eyes and a baby face peering up at them in the afternoon glow of the sun. His face warmed slightly upon seeing them and nodded a greeting- "Hi, Jeno. Hi, Chenle." 

Jeno couldn't help but realise how little he actually enjoyed meeting new people. It was always the introductions that were the worst, because no one knew where to start.

"Jeno, you should sit. Your ankle..."

Chenle helped him down and he settled upon the log beside Jisung, wincing as his foot came into contact with the packed earth. It must have been noticeable to Jisung, whether it was because he was watching him intently or otherwise. 

"It looks like it hurts." Jisung says, gesturing to Jeno's foot. 

"It's not that bad-" Jeno begins, cutting himself off with a hiss through his teeth as the relaxing muscles set off the ache and throb within the bandage. "Well, I mean it's been better." 

"I'd say. Your foot was the size of a football when I walked into the cabin earlier." 

"Not to mention it was purple." Chenle adds.

Jeno shakes his head, "I can't believe Johnny licked my foot."

Jisung laughs at that.

"He could have at least taken you to dinner first."

The three of them snicker, smiling at one another in that bashful sort of way that you do to people you don't really know all that well but have shared a moment of humour or bonding with. 

Even though Jeno was apprehensive about a lot of things (Jaemin being his roommate for the summer and being in charge of large groups of children being two of them) he found comfort in the fact that these people - bar a certain someone - appeared to like him. 

He liked them.

So perhaps things weren't that terrible after all. 

"I don't suppose you guys know how to light a fire?" Jisung asks, gesturing down to his lap. There was a small bundle of dried moss and a flint stone just beside his knee, and from the way he had been staring at it when they approached him, Jeno figured he'd never been in a position where he'd ever had to do something of the sort before.

"Here."

Jeno takes it from him, his brain resurfacing images from the boy scouts that might aid him in this mission. 

He takes the flint in his palm and begins striking just as Jisung says, "the only fire I've ever created was a mixtape a few years back-"

"Will you _stop_ talking about the mixtape?" 

The three of them whirl around to see Renjun, hands on hips and a bundle of sticks tucked under his arm. "You've already tried to sell me that mixtape three times and we've only been together as buddies for an hour."

"It's _fire_ , honestly you're missing out."

Renjun rolls his eyes, setting the sticks down and spreading them out around the fire pit in front of them. "Really?" His voice is dripping in sarcasm. "Isn't the title song called 'Big Booty Bitches'?" 

"No." Jisung sounds indignant. "That's the B-side. The title track is actually my own rendition of 'It's Everyday Bro' but with a meaningful solo which was excluded from the original-"

"You've _got_ to be kidding me-"

"It's F-I-R-E."

Speaking of fire, Jeno struck the flint even harder than he had tried in his past few attempts since Renjun had appeared and a spark managed to latch itself onto the kindling in his lap. 

Quickly he scooped it up into his hands and began to blow onto it in short puffs, causing it to smoke and the flame to spread. He tried to suppress the pleased grin on his face, happy he had been able to do something right.

Chenle cheered beside him, Jisung and Renjun continued to argue about the quality of his mixtape. 

Jeno placed the lit kindling into the bundle of sticks that Renjun had arranged and began blowing onto the arrangement just like before, encouraging the heat to spread and the smoke to billow out above Jeno's crown. Chenle helped by waving his hands in a fanning motion, his eyes trained on Renjun and Jisung as they discussed the mixtape.

"You can't include such derogatory terms against women in a mixtape released in 2019, Jisung."

Jisung seemed puzzled. "But Six Nine, Jay-Z and P-Diddy use it in their songs-"

"P-Diddy had Tupac killed, he's not exactly a great role model."

The voice came from behind them, and upon all four of them turning around and looking up, they came face to face with Johnny, Mark and who Jeno could only assume was Haechan.

It was Johnny who had spoken, hands buried deep in his pockets as he leaned back on his heels and eyed Jisung. 

They all stood in a line, each with a basket in their arms that contained a mix of kebab skewers and also what could only be a selection of various prepared meats. They all must have spotted it at the same time because silence fell over the four boys, mouths presumably watering.

"We bring gifts!" Haechan, the boy furthest to the left, smiled at them as he held the basket in his arms out as an offering.

Apparently the boys had already met Haechan, for they all seemed to nod and reach out, thanking him for his efforts and smiling back at him pleasantly.

Haechan must have suddenly noticed Jeno sitting there bewildered, for he extended his hand as he balanced the basket onto his knees and shot Jeno the same kindness he had been exuding seconds ago.

"Hi, I'm Haechan."

Jeno shook his hand back, replicating that same bright expression. "Jeno."

"Let's just fucking cook," Johnny interrupted, pushing past Haechan impatiently and making a beeline for the growing fire in the middle of the pit. "I'm so hungry that if I don't start to eat within the next hour, I'm going to begin tucking into Mark."

Mark made an involuntary noise as he followed Johnny's lead in setting the food down next to the campfire. "Why me?"

"Because you'd be a delightful entrée. Like a chicken wing."

"I have no idea what that's supposed to mean."

"It means you'd be a snack." Haechan says as if it was obvious. 

Everyone looked at him for a moment in surprise, which made the red tinge to Haechan's cheeks deepen with every passing millisecond. 

And even though Haechan was blushing with the sudden attention and embarrassment of what he'd just said, his blush had nothing on Mark's Magenta coloured cheeks.

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The food was thankfully cooked within a short space of time, meaning that Mark was saved from becoming a literal meal for Johnny. Such a fact seemed to please everyone, not just Khaki man. 

They all sat around the fire pit on the sitting logs, a small paper plate on their laps piled high with meats and assorted vegetables that complimented the protein well. The meat was tender and delicious, a ranging selection of pork and beef which was lightly seasoned and ultimately worth the effort of keeping the fire going with continuous logs and sticks (although Renjun was starting to get pissed off because nobody seemed to be able to find quality logs like he could). 

At this point the sun was setting well over the horizon, the sky above the trees that circled the fire pit turning a rich midnight blue further and further every second the sun exited the sky. 

Jeno despite his previous apprehensions that day, found that his foot wasn't aching as much as it had been, the food was good and so was the surrounding company. He felt alright, no matter how out of his depth he might have been in the situation as a whole. 

Mark was discussing something about the faulty plumbing, but Jeno wasn't really listening into it all that much. He made out something that sounded like "the plumbing is all linked" and "be careful which faucet you use because it could turn the shower on", but who was he to be sure? He was totally more engrossed in his food anyways. 

He might've even been _comfortable_ if it hadn't been for one thing.

"Where's Jaemin?" 

They all looked up at him.

His question seemed to break everybody out of their reverent for the food. They looked at him quizzically, a few of them turning in the direction of Jeno's shared cabin as if they had just been reminded that he wasn't two halves of a buddy pair. 

"I asked him earlier when the food was done whether he wanted to come over," Mark explained, "he said he wasn't feeling it."

A quick glance over only proved what they had all suspected. The cabin was void of any signs of life, all the lights were still off even though night had begun to settle over the camp and their sight was becoming impaired. If Jaemin was in there, he wouldn't have been able to see very much.

And Jeno would have continued to carry on eating, in fact he was planning on doing so. He understands that Jaemin would have the mental capability to come out of the cabin and eat with the rest of them should he want to, yet he had made it unwaveringly clear from his attitude thus far that he had no interest in doing so. 

Based on this, Jeno decided he should just drop it.

Or at least that was until a sudden thought wormed its way into his head. 

_What if Jaemin was hungry?_

Jeno hated himself for caring that much about someone who a) had been incredibly rude to him when Jeno had been trying his best, and b) didn't deserve Jeno's consideration, but he just couldn't help himself. 

He looked down at the remaining meat in the basket, semi-disheartened when he couldn't find any left overs at all. The basket was completely empty. 

By this point everyone had stopped eating. Johnny was poised with a chicken drumstick halfway into his mouth, Jisung with a chopstick loaded with veggies. They were all watching him, wondering what on earth he was doing. 

As Jeno's eyes turned down to his own paper plate that lay in his lap, he was met with the sight of two chicken drumsticks and a pork medallion with a few stray vegetables. 

He suddenly didn't feel very hungry. 

He sighed, and then he began to stand.

When they all turned to him as a reaction from his sudden movements, he felt the need to justify himself. "He might be hungry." Was all Jeno could say.

"I hope he's alright." Haechan said, casting his gaze to the lifeless cabin in the distance. "He said earlier that he was looking forward to the summer here."

Jeno, of whom had been lost in meaningless thought, seemed to be awoken by this news. He said nothing as he listened to the unfolding conversation, totally and utterly confused as to what he was hearing.

_Jaemin had done nothing but complained earlier when it had been the two of them in the cabin together, how did this correlate to being excited about this summer?_

"When he called up about the position he was super excited and happy," Johnny began, "he seems really friendly so I doubt it will take you guys long to get to know him." 

As Johnny spoke, his eyes trailed over to Jeno for perhaps a second too long. 

Did he realise how different Jaemin had been with him? How odd it seemed that he'd taken an apparent immediate dislike to Jeno in such a way like this?

If such thoughts floated in Johnny's mind, he didn't let them show. He looked away eventually, turning to Chenle as the boy opened his mouth.

"Yeah, when he asked me what were my hobbies when we were waiting for Jeno, he said he wanted to go waterboarding with me because I brought it up. He seems like a cool guy." Chenle explained, and somehow to Jeno this all seemed to be too far from the truth.

He had to actually double check everybody's names in his head to ensure he hadn't mixed up his buddy partner with someone else around the campfire. 

Bafflingly, he hadn't.

They all nodded amongst one another. Jeno just glanced down at his plate again, not really knowing what to say.

What was going on? 

The boys continued to talk about Jaemin between themselves, and it was the strangest experience of Jeno's life thus far. He felt a great weight rest down onto his shoulders, his body slouching under the invisible pressure.

All Jeno could do was replay the events from in the cabin when it had just been the two of them alone after Johnny and Mark had left. 

_'I don't like people that don't watch where they're going. The kind of people that are stupid enough to fall down rabbit holes'_

He looked up once more to view the cabin in the distance, silenced and lifeless. 

What had Jeno done?

Although it might not have bothered some people, but the fact that it was something about Jeno that Jaemin hadn't liked or even _hated_ was truly the fuel for his ruminating thoughts. What was wrong about him? Why could he not be treated like everybody else here? 

It shouldn't have irked him the way that it did, but he was upset by the thought. Jaemin upset him. 

It was an obvious fact to Jeno that he couldn't get everybody in the world to like him, to think so would be foolish and ignorant. Whether it was a deeper unresolved personal problem or it was simply because Jeno had never been in this situation before, he didn't like the feeling that this information had left him with. It made him feel heavier, twisted his stomach and tensed his muscles. 

Bizarrely, he wasn't angry or confused by Jaemin. He was worried about how he could be the problem. 

What was wrong with him? What made him different from the other boys? 

With shooting pains running down his hands that were physically crippling, he stood up.

"I'm going to get some rest." 

He didn't put his plate back into the basket despite his announcement, instead he clutched the edges of it tighter as he straightened himself out from the log he had been sat on. 

He looked at them all, each one of them illuminated by the light of the fire that cast dramatic shadows across their features. Mark's eyes sparkled up at him, even glassier in the dimmed light than they were in the day, and it once again made Jeno's heart thump dramatically in his chest. 

The look Mark shot him seemed to convey...something. 

Mark had been there to witness Jaemin's approaches to him, perhaps he understood what was going through Jeno's head while the rest of them didn't. 

If he did, just like Johnny, he didn't say anything.

Jeno, of whom was beyond confused, brushed the crumbs from his front.

"'Night guys."

And, with a chorus of 'good night's' behind him, he began walking back in the direction of the cabin.

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Jeno made sure to open the cabin door as slowly and as carefully as possible in an obvious effort not to disturb Jaemin should he be sleeping. 

Although the sentiment was there, it was rather foolish of him to assume that the cabin door was going to come quietly. 

_**CREAAAAAAAAKKK** _

Apparently unsuccessful with his stealth mode, Jeno cringed at the decibels reached by the door and eventually opted (after a minute of deliberation) for just walking inside like nothing was different. He strolled over to the wardrobe which sat beside the bunk bed as a first port of call, not even looking around the room to see where Jaemin might be. The floorboards beneath him groaned and complained under his weight and the sturdiness of them grew ever more questionable. 

If Jaemin had been in the cabin, he most likely would have been disturbed by the noise and would have said something snarky, so it was easy enough to judge that he wasn't in the room. Despite this, Jeno still does his best to remain light footed.

He inclined himself onto his tiptoes and he outstretched his arm that gripped the plate. Carefully placing the plate onto the top of the wardrobe, he slid it across the flat top section a fair way so it was not at risk of falling off. 

The wardrobe's top section would have been the perfect accessible height for Jaemin should he feel hungry and wish to chow down on what Jeno had managed to save for him. And even if he didn't want the food, Jeno just hoped that he would appreciate the gesture. 

Although, if the behaviour up until now was anything to go by, Jeno doubted the gesture would even be noticed let alone appreciated.

He stands back, satisfied with his work. 

He lazily pulls off his t-shirt and tugs at his jeans, discarding them onto the floor any which way in the cabin. A quick rub of his face and a beeline for his oh-so-comfy bed are the contents of his nighttime routine tonight, seemingly beyond his usual skincare and teeth cleaning routine in matters such as this. 

He crawls under the sheets that had been prepared by Mark earlier that day, snuggling into soft linen. Although the mattress itself was the equivalent to glorified cardboard, the soft linen and the cozy sheets seemed to make up for it in some ways. 

Jeno found himself just settling into the covers and sighing against the pillow when he was alerted to a noise outside the cabin door. 

Footsteps.

The cabin door creaked open just as loudly as before, the minimal light outside illuminating a slim figure in the doorway. 

It was Jaemin. 

Even through the lack of light in the room and from Jeno's disguised place under the covers, he could make out that Jaemin was wearing a hoodie that he hadn't been wearing before and was now clad in sweatpants rather than the jeans he had been sporting earlier. 

Judging by the noise spurting from Jaemin's chest as he leaned against the doorway, he had been running. His breathing was laboured and his breath hitched in his throat as he swallowed roughly. 

He placed both hands behind his head in an attempt to open his rib cage out and aid his lungs in swallowing enough air. 

He'd been running _hard_.

 _A night time runner?_ Jeno considered, still peeking at the boy in the doorway stealthily from under his blankets. 

Jaemin, who seemed unaware that Jeno was in the room with the noticeable lack of light, pulled out his earbuds and discarded them onto the window sill of the window overlooking the main path - the same window that Jeno had seen Jaemin through when he and Chenle had passed by earlier that afternoon. 

From the unpredictable behaviour to skipping dinner, Jaemin was shaping up to be an odd character even though it had only been less than a day. 

Jeno, who was acutely aware that he would be spending the rest of the summer with this weirdo, wasn't loving the experience of being in the same room as him in that moment, however found himself slightly less irritated due to them being in silence. When Jaemin didn't know he was there, it appeared to make things easier.

Jaemin, after just standing in the doorway and allowing himself a moment to breathe, sighed heavily and reached for the hem of his hoodie in order to tug it over his head in one go. Afterwards he proceeded to kick off his sweatpants and trainers midway to the little ladder to the top bunk, which coincidentally was right next to Jeno's head. 

As Jaemin's left foot made contact with the first rung of the ladder, Jeno squeezed his eyes shut and remained incredibly still. He theorised that if Jaemin didn't know he was here he could either a) overhear Jaemin letting loose some information about why he didn't like Jeno, and b) avoid the confrontation and potential argument that Jaemin would no doubt be looking for the minute Jeno made his presence known. 

He ascended the ladder without any sign that he had noticed Jeno at all, even humming to himself under his breath as he meandered upwards above Jeno's head. 

Just as Jaemin reached the final few rungs at the top of the ladder, something caught Jeno's eye. 

Each of the corners that held the top bunk above the bottom one - the joins of wood that were nailed together to create the structure - were noticeably wobbling as if not held together by anything with structural intent at all. The further Jaemin climbed up the ladder and the more of his body weight that was shifted onto the mattress seemed to wobble the top half of the bunk uncontrollably. The noise of wood rubbing against wood and the action of doing so was sending sawdust trickling down in little puffs of force.

Concern started to grow in the pit of Jeno's stomach, and before he could even vocalise for Jaemin to stop moving, the inevitable happened. 

The wood of the bed frame gave a deafening groan of defeat, the structure splintering instantly the moment Jaemin placed the remainder of his little body weight onto the mattress. 

Thinking through instinct, Jeno immediately rolled sideways out of the bottom bunk, landing with a heavy thud on the floor and turning around just in time to see the four posters of the bed snap in the middle, sending the tray of the top bunk down with a loud and ear-splitting crash. 

Watching in horror from his place on the floor, Jeno saw Jaemin falling with the top tray. He was kneeled on the hay-filled mattress and even in the dark Jeno could make out the intense look of panic that clouded his usually deadpan and exasperated features. His arms flailed as he searched desperately for something to grab onto, yet to no avail. 

The bunk crashed down, the whole of the top bunk's slats and headboard splintering from the force of the fall and Jaemin sitting amongst it all - a yelp of what sounded like pain yet was attributed to ultimately panic alone - spilling out of his mouth. The tray itself landed directly onto a pair of Adidas sliders that were positioned at the bottom of the ladder, from what Jeno could remember, they had been placed there when they had both wandered into the cabin that afternoon. Now, there was likely to be one whole slider and a quarter of another.

After a moment, silence rang out in the cabin. 

The both of them, now aware of each other being in the room and suddenly aware of the dangers that could have occurred, only stared at each other through the semi darkness in silence. They'd been stunned into disbelief.

Outside the cabin, there was the sound of running footsteps and the frantic calls of both of their names from what sounded like Mark and Johnny. They sounded panicked, and honestly, Jeno felt they had every right to be. 

If Jeno hadn't rolled out of bed when he did, he could have been seeing more of the ER this summer than any of the summer camp as a whole. 

Jaemin on the other hand...

" _What-_ "

He inhaled and exhaled sharply.

" _The-_ "

Jeno closed his eyes, knowing the outburst that was about to follow was unable to be rescheduled to a better hour that was after he had managed to gain some beauty sleep.

"- _ **FU-**_ "

The cabin door flew open, apparently with such force that the hinges decided that that was their moment to give up on life. The door rattled and slid down the frame, landing in a heap at Johnny's feet as he barged his way into the room with little remorse for the door. 

Mark was hot on his heels and was flicking on the light switch closest to the doorway. Light immediately flooded the room, blinding Jeno and Jaemin as they lay amongst the rubble. 

The bed, in every form and meaning of the word, was destroyed. Every single piece that made the collective frame was splintered and it was clear from the panic that must have been plastered on Jeno's face that one of them could have been facing a little bit more than just a splinter. 

Jaemin was attempting to stand from his place amongst the debris, wobbling on his feet as the mattress beneath him shifted with the scattered planks of wood. 

"I can't take this anymore!" He cried, stumbling over and having to brace himself against the back wall as he attempted to get out of the remnants of the bed. "I'm not staying here. Johnny! Mark! Even _you_ -!"

He gestured wildly at Jeno from his spot leaning against the back wall. 

"It's only been a day and everything is threatening to kill us! This is all bullshit!"

He stood there in the bright illumination of the ceiling light in only his boxers, his hair plastered to his forehead with sweat after his run and his slim body shivering in the cold with the door now missing from its frame. 

"I could have _died_ -!"

Johnny reached out to him, hoisting him out of the debris and attempting to calm him down from his rampage. 

Mark was righting Jeno to his feet and was scanning him for any blood or cuts that might need attention. Thankfully he had come out alright and needed no more than a stiff drink or something to calm his shock. Mark still seemed concerned though, and he even quickly removed the hoodie he was wearing and started cramming it down over Jeno's head in an effort to keep him warm.

"Jaemin!" 

Johnny eventually cried out, shoving him a little to get him to focus. It appeared to work, for Jaemin's delicate lips clamped shut. 

He paused, rubbing Jaemin's shoulders in an attempt to soothe him. 

"You can have the other cabin."

Mark, of whom had been helping Jeno in cramming his hoodie over the other boy's head with little success, turned towards Johnny in confusion. 

"Are you sure? Because that cabin has a-"

"Yes." Johnny replied, perhaps a little too loudly. 

He gave Mark a look that suggested he should zip it or else. Jeno would know, Hyunjae had given him that look multiple times in front of their mom when he'd been on the verge of telling her that him and Hyunjae had eaten the entire contents of the Treat Cupboard in one afternoon when she'd been asleep.

Johnny's eyes were wide and he somehow managed to convey to Mark that whatever he had been about to say would not have been appreciated by Jaemin. 

Jeno studied the expressions of Mark and Johnny carefully, looking between them as though he were engrossed in the Wimbledon final. They looked, oddly enough amongst the wreckage of the bunk bed, like an old married couple that often fought with little meaning. He must have been ruminating on this thought and staring intently between them both for at least thirty seconds before he felt eyes resting on him. 

Lowering his eyes from Johnny's raised eyebrow, he found Jaemin observing him silently from beside the remains of the bed.

He said nothing at all whilst he leered, his lips remaining pursed together in a twisted pout. Jeno seemed to sense something emanating off of him in waves, feeling almost like he was waiting for Jeno to make a complaint about his whining, of which Jeno was very _very_ tempted to do so. 

Still, he remained silent too. 

The relief that was plastered across Johnny's face told that it was a blissful experience for those around them, even if the silence was only temporary. Mark was still looking at Johnny with an indiscernable look plastered across his face. Apparently Johnny was doing his utmost best to ignore it.

"Come on, you two." He waved vaguely in their direction, already turning around sharply and heading towards the open door. "Let's get Jaemin his beauty sleep."

Jaemin snapped his leer in half and turned his attention to Johnny, hot on his heels as they walked out the door.

Mark scooped up both of the boys' suitcases from their place against the far wall and set off ahead of Jeno, suitcase in either hand and hauling ass to the door. Mark trailing after Jaemin in the direction Johnny had dictated with Jeno hobbling hopelessly after them both. 

Mark, upon sensing Jeno was having difficulties in keeping up and also keeping balance, darted into the bushes quickly and retrieved a long flat object from the direction in which the broken step from earlier had been launched. 

He returned with that very step, which ended up being a long plank of wood that Jeno could utilise to keep balance when needed. 

Mark handed it to him as if he had crafted it himself, and Jeno tucked it under his arm with a courteous nod of thanks. It wasn't as good as a normal crutch, but the height of the object was good so he supposed it would do.

The two boys kept their distance from one another as they exited, for it seemed their mandatory distance from each other was becoming an unplanned normality. In short, Jaemin was too mysterious for Jeno and that alone seemed to be enough to scare him away from any advancement on 'friendship'.

As they stepped down the broken stair of the cabin, Jeno couldn't help but ogle the back of Jaemin's head in the midst of the darkness outside. He wanted to know what he'd done to warrant this hatred. More importantly, he wanted to know if Jaemin and him could ever get along- even if it meant nine weeks of progress.

The way Mark made a deliberate attempt to stand in between them both as soon as he noticed Jeno's glare told him that it was unlikely.

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_Crunch_

_Crunch_

The gravel beneath Jeno's bare feet shifted under his weight and seemed to reach decibels above the insistent crickets in the bushes around the pathway. He wasn't one to complain (unlike Jaemin) and thus decided to ultimately suffer in silence with his bruised soles. His ankle throbbed terribly in its bandage and the ice pack that Chenle had sourced for him had long since been warmed. Now it was more of a sweat pack.

One glance over in the direction of the fire pit pointed out to Jeno that the rest of the boys had gone to bed not long after Jeno himself. He doubts they were having any kind of alterations like him and his _adorable_ buddy were having. 

Jeno had naturally fallen into the spot beside Mark. Mark had bumped Jeno's elbow comfortingly as he'd neared him, giving him that gentle smile to make him feel at ease. The solar lights that lined the pathways at regular intervals were enough to cast dark shadows across Mark's eyes, and it shot a bolt of guilt right through Jeno as they continued walking. He didn't like the fact that this was keeping Mark awake, but he also didn't know how to tell Mark politely that he'd be able to manage the cabin transition on his own without offending him. 

Besides, Mark kept shooting nervous glances between Jaemin and himself as if at any moment they were about to start attacking each other, so it seemed unlikely that Mark was going to leave them unsupervised for any time if possible.

Eventually Johnny veered off of the main path, turning to the final cabin. 

It was only as Johnny had begun climbing the steps to the front door in one long stride that it sparked a memory within Jeno's sleep-deprived mind.

Johnny turned the key in the lock and, without pausing for a second, Jaemin stormed forwards out of desperation. He manoeuvred around The Key Master, shouldering his way into the room as quickly as possible. 

This was the cabin where Johnny had licked his foot that afternoon.

Although this wouldn't have been a huge deal, certainly not worth noting otherwise, it occurred to Jeno in one foul swoop that this cabin had perhaps one much bigger downside to it than the delapitated one they were previously in.

There was an ear piercing shriek that came from within.

_**"NOOOOO-"** _

Mark and Jeno climbed the remaining steps, Jeno still utilising his plank, and rolled the suitcases through the doorway, Jeno's eyes immediately falling onto the biggest and most upsetting object in the room. 

_"A double bed?!"_

Jaemin was standing at the side of the bed with the word 'betrayal' written across his forehead. And even though Jaemin's distaste to the double bed was purely because he would have to share it with Jeno, Jeno couldn't help but crack a smile at the shit-eating grin that Johnny was shooting Mark. 

Although it probably wasn't planned, it seemed to be an ingenious on-the-spot idea by Johnny for this to be the ultimate bonding experience. 

A way to make friends.

Mark, who appeared clearer than ever to be the immediate instigator of peace in this situation, had mixed feelings about this proposition.

As Jaemin continued to complain, prodding the edge of the bed with his exposed big toe and whining something along the lines of 'if He farts I'll feel every breath of it through skin to skin contact', Mark glanced at Johnny with wavering emotions that differed by the second.

 _Will this actually make them get along with enough time in between for them not to kill each other?_ He seemed to convey, mostly through his complicated and conflicted body language that would have confused an CIA field agent. 

Jeno wanted nothing more than to just sleep immediately, thus he proceeded to pick a side of the bed that he wouldn't actually hate sleeping on (the one furthest from the door seemed fitting), and pulled back the covers in a neat Housemaid flourish. 

This action seemed to divert Jaemin's attention, and argument, back over to Jeno.

"You- You're not actually going to sleep in it, are you?" He cried incredulously, eyes wide and visible even in the dim light from the ceiling. 

Jeno, who at this point (and probably a point several hours before) had decidedly had enough, pretended to look around as though he were from a shitty 90s mystery cartoon. Upon not finding what he was looking for, he turned his attention back to Jaemin, of whom had a changing facial expression that could have made marble even colder. "I can't see another bed, can you?"

"I am not sharing a bed. Especially not with _you_ -"

"We don't have another option. Unless you want to take the hammock outside? That might be fitting."

"Wonderful!" Jaemin clapped his hands together, beaming at him gleefully. He wandered over to Jeno's suitcase, of which was sat beside the open front door where Jeno had left it. Mark, Johnny and Jeno watched as he promptly shoved it with an outstretched palm and let it wheel out of sight. It clattered down the cabin stairs loudly, landing with a depressing thump onto the earth at the bottom. 

Jaemin turned back to him once it had safely landed, "I'll see you in the morning then!" 

Mark could only watch in horror as he saw the extent of this immediate and unexplainable hostility between the two campers. His worries seemed to be easily distiniguishable, ranging from 'how will the campers react to this?' to 'how many emergency room trips am I going to have to make this summer?' Meanwhile Johnny only looked like he wished he'd sourced some popcorn for this spectators event.

Much to Jaemin's irritation, Jeno considered his options for a minute. 

He could either retrieve the suitcase and risk being locked out, thus being forced to sleep in the hammock outside. This might not have been too bad, but Jeno's weak stomach from that morning was warning him against the motion sickness that could occur like it was the plague. 

His only other option?

"I'm staying put."

He climbed into the sheets, scooting around until his head hit the pillows and the blanket was pulled up to his chin with just his eyes peeking out. 

Jaemin was still stood in the doorway, his eyes trained on Jeno as if he could use his Matilda like powers to launch him out of the bed and into the cabin wall at great force. When nothing happened after a few moments, he appeared to give up that approach.

He then began another attempt, but this time by targeting Mark. 

"Isn't it a safeguarding issue to have two employees sharing a bed?" He looks at Jeno who was neatly tucked into the sheets of the bed, looking like the most innocent creature ever that was waiting for someone to come and tell him a bedtime story. 

Jaemin frowns at Mark, putting on a stage whisper so Jeno could clearly hear him. 

"What if he has _nits_?"

Jeno rolls his eyes. 

Mark coughs awkwardly, unsure of how to react. When he glances up at Johnny for some kind of guidance or assistance in this situation (because presumably whether a camper has nits or not isn't typically in the employee handbook), is only met with an unhelpful snort. 

"I'm pretty sure Jeno doesn't have nits, Jaemin." He tries, glancing at Jeno as if that's all the affirmation that is possibly needed to soothe Jaemin's worries.

Jaemin opens his mouth to retort with the hope of getting his own way. However Mark, who could see no discernible end to this anytime soon, reaches out and pulls gently on Johnny's sleeve; he motions for them to walk in the direction of the door.

"Goodnight guys!" They both chortle, grinning brightly before passing through the open doorway. 

Jaemin, who still had _so_ many more possible attempts here, steps forward with his index finger raised in the air. "Wait-"

The door to the cabin rattles closed behind the two, the force of the door closing enough to turn the light off for them as though it dislodged a socket somewhere. 

For the second time that day Johnny and Mark had left the fighting bucks to their quarters in an attempt to mask the problem. How much longer a strategy like that could last was yet to be desired. 

Quick reminder: it had been less than a day.

Jaemin stands looking at the door for a minute, eyeing it as though it would reopen again and the Marriott Hotel TV ad guy would step through and offer him a luxury penthouse for the night. It seems as though he gives up on this idea rather quickly and thus he slinks backwards in the direction of the side of the bed not vacated by Jeno. 

He climbs in wordlessly, and in the lack of light in the room, Jeno struggles to make out his face as he dejectedly says "if you snore, I'll pick you up and push you down those stairs with your suitcase."

He throws the linen back and slides in, shuffling around in silence for a moment to make himself comfortable. 

It's during this shuffling that Jeno, of whom had been trying to close his eyes and roll as far away from Jaemin's immediate body warmth as possible, feels a foot brush against his leg. 

He knows it was an accidental caress, yet he cannot help that it causes the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. 

Jaemin, upon sensing his foot had touched something other than linen, jerked back violently and scooted _far_ away from the other boy. So far in fact that he had turned his back to face Jeno and was curled up in a ball, teetering on the edge of dropping to the floor. As he moved, he let out a noise that could only be described as a full bodied shudder.

And, when they had both stopped moving finally, silence descended on them again.

The quiet space between them is somehow super awkward, yet Jeno finds nothing that should be said in a circumstance like this. It occurs to him as he squeezes his eyes shut tightly in a severely deep cringe that this whole situation was frightfully awkward and no words could change that. Perhaps it was just as well, for words might make this whole situation even more cringe. 

Jeno closes his eyes tightly, trying desperately to pretend that Jaemin wasn't there at all and that he was curled up in his bedroom at home with his sister in the room next door and their dog Patsy sleeping faithfully at the end of the backboard.

It would have worked a treat had Jaemin not bluntly interrupted his efforts with a sharp and brutal tug of the linen. 

He tugged so hard at the duvet that Jeno found himself suddenly _freezing_ due to overexposure to the cold air on the outside of the sheets. He turns over his shoulder to see that the blanket at deserted him, running over to Jaemin's side of the bed as if Jeno were diseased. 

Suddenly forgetting the unwritten rule of no talking, Jeno blurts out: "Can I have some blanket too?" 

He's polite and his voice is low and soft just in case Jaemin had, somehow by impossible nature, already fallen asleep. 

It's silent for so long afterwards that Jeno's body jerks with the motion of turning back around in defeat. The motion is stopped when Jaemin mumbles back an equally soft "no." 

Well then. 

He turns over, his back facing Jaemin and his whole body very _very_ far away from touching him in any way shape or form. Although he's absolutely frozen, he refuses to lose out on any of his sleep if he can help it. 

He's already going to be grumpy tomorrow because he's being lumped with Jaemin. The least he can do is try to rest up and somehow try to make the hammock a suitable sleeping arrangement for tomorrow night instead. 

His last thought before he falls asleep is a lot more innocent and sweet than his awake-brain would have concocted about the boy trying to sleep next to him. 

_He hasn't eaten anything._

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The sunlight poured in from the small gap in the hideous yellow curtains, streaming into the room and skimming silently across Jeno's features. As the clouds covering the brightness shifted with the summer breeze outside, the light grew evermore intense. 

Jeno stirred from his slumber. 

He slowly came to, trying to take in his surroundings without opening his eyes. 

From the physical feeling around him, it seemed he still had no blankets. _Shock_. However, he could also sense a lack of warmth radiating next to him and noticed a clear lack of short breathing snorts that some might label a snore. 

Jaemin wasn't there.

This alone seemed to be news enough for him to open his eyes. 

Sure enough, he was the only life in the room (if you discounted the fungus growing in the wardrobe). 

He was curled on his side, his whole body in the shape of a foetus. His knees were touching his chest and his arms were wrapped around his shins, an obvious attempt from his unconscious sleeping body to try and emulate some warmth. With the morning sun streaming in through the crack in the curtains however, he seemed to feel slightly less cold than he had last night. 

Any string of optimism, no matter how flimsy, was going to be grasped at at this stage. 

The bed sheets appeared to be tousled aside, the shape of where Jaemin's lean body had lay all night still present in the moulded shape of the sheets. Reaching a hand out and touching the exact spot where Jaemin's shoulder would've been, Jeno confirmed that by its temperature, Jaemin hadn't been gone for long. 

_Hopefully,_ Jeno thinks, _this means he will be gone longer._

It's just as Jeno takes the opportunity to sink into the bed once more, reaching out to seize control of the quilt, that he cannot help but feel the intense and sudden urge to pee. 

He sighs heavily, pushing his face into the pillow out of exasperation. Why now? He'd just managed to get comfortable in the morning sun, to move now would cause his shivering body to start a mutiny. 

He rights himself into a sitting position. 

_Here we go._

He hobbles to the plank of wood that Mark had fished out of the bushes last night, putting it under his arm as he shuffled his way to the door. His foot throbbed in the bandage it was contained in, but he does his best to ignore it as the urge to pee seemed to outweigh its necessity. 

With that, he flings the door to the cabin wide open. 

He practically marches across the grass towards the communal toilets, the plank of wood doing overtime as it manoeuvred through the grass alongside him. He barely feels his foot when he starts going, literally on the verge of pee running down his leg doing more to motivate him than his foot was doing to restrain him.

He shoulders his way into the yellow painted cabin, ditching his trusty plank at the door and barrelling in at full force. It's as the door softly clicks behind him that he becomes totally and utterly distracted. 

Distracted by a _singing voice._

Now, he definitely hadn't been expecting that.

He appears to go rigid as his body leans into the direction of the noise, of which appeared to be emanating from the furthest shower stall at the end of the row. Steam laces itself into every nook and cranny as it pours out like a melting pot from the end stall, the voice that came from within it following suit as though the smoke was the force that carried the sound.

Jeno cautiously takes a few more steps into the washrooms, careful to make as little noise as possible. The singer pursued the vocal number as though they were undisturbed, and thus allowed Jeno the freedom to lean against the nearest bathroom stall undetected. 

The urge to pee is suddenly dull and faded, the rendition of such a famous song with such a sweet and gentle singing voice ringing out over the building being enough to dispel bodily functions. 

Somebody To Love. 

That was the song. 

Jeno finally slots the lyrics into place after a few seconds, finding his body swaying along to the famous tune. 

_Queen?_ Jeno can't help but think, incredulously. It's a relatively old song, and from the impressions of the other campers last night, he hadn't put such an old school classic onto any of their tastes. 

_"I just gotta get out of this prison cell  
One day I'm gonna be free..."_

The voice is sweet and confident, the words sung with absolute clarity and with shocking emotion for something as mundane as a shower solo. For an early morning belt out, it was something Jeno hadn't been expecting but was pleasantly surprised with. 

_"Can anybody find me somebody to love?"_

The goosebumps were raised all along his body and a tingle shot down his spine like a stray bullet. The voice was confident and well...perfect. Every note hit home, the tone was spot on and there was even a hint of the singer's own flair in his delivery. 

Jeno was ready to advance forwards and find out who could possibly be the owner of such a voice. It wasn't like the singer in question was outstanding or jaw-dropping, it was just a sweet and bold sound that appeared to warm Jeno's heart in ways he hadn't been prepared for. Whoever was singing was doing so for their own moment, for their own pleasure. 

And, just as suddenly as Jeno had burst into the karaoke session, the singing and the song stopped.

It broke Jeno out of his daze as he heard the distinct sound of the water being shut off, the steam flowing from the top of the stall gradually dissipating through the vents up above and clearing the air.

It was only when the rattle of the door handle sounded, indicating that said singer was on their way to exit, that Jeno took the initiative to duck into the stall he was leaning against, cramming himself into it as quickly as possible and silently sliding the lock over. 

The door to the stall at the end creaked open and the familiar squeak of sliders on wet tiles echoed through the room. 

Jeno, who found himself pressed against the edge of the shower wall with his breath caught in his throat rather chokingly, waited in anticipation for the singer to wander past the door. 

**_Squeak_ **

**_Squeak_ **

**_Squeak_ **

Soundlessly crouching to his knees and wincing slightly at the strain this put upon his ankle, Jeno utilised the gap in the door from the floor to peek at the shoes of the soloist. 

They came into view as the singer opened the door to leave the washroom building, stopping in the gap under Jeno's stall just long enough for him to get a good look. 

The sliders were white, the clear black stripes coating the band alerted Jeno to a shocking fact. 

They were Adidas sliders. 

Although this wouldn't usually be that shocking, what was truly blood draining was the fact that the left slider had a distinct chunk missing from most of the heel.

The door clicked closed as the singer headed back to their cabin, the familiar squeak of the shoes growing ever more distant the further they walked away. 

Jeno leaned back against the tiled wall under the expanse of the shower head, totally and utterly confused. 

_Jaemin can sing?_

Jeno ruminated over this newly discovered fact, wondering if he might be able to use this for leverage at some point for Jaemin clearly only wanted to sing when he was alone. It didn't take Jeno much of a leap to theorise that Jaemin was somewhat embarrassed about singing in front of others for he wouldn't have woken up so early to shower otherwise, and thus this opportunity for humiliation - should need be based on Jaemin's shitty approaches to Jeno thus far - seemed like it was crafted by G.O.D himself.

He's in the midst of this trail of thought when the heavy door to the washroom reopened with a shriek against its hinges, once again snapping him out of his consuming thoughts. 

Still on his knees from where he had been peeking out earlier, Jeno witnessed first hand a pair of bright pink flip-flops with flamingo detail trail across the washroom towards the sinks. 

Johnny.

 _This is fine,_ Jeno thinks to himself as Johnny stops in front of the faucets, _I'll just wait for Johnny to leave and then I can g-_

Unfortunately, G.O.D had other plans.

**"ARGH!"**

Ice cold water shot out of the shower head directly above Jeno's crouching form, pelting his back with a jet like a firehose. 

He's absolutely _drenched._

Johnny whips around in the direction of the noise, "what the-?"

He doesn't know if it's the surprise from the sudden soaking or the temperature of the water, but he inadvertently cries out in reaction, embarrassingly revealing himself for lurking in the stalls in the early hours of the morning. 

He stands, backing away from the water with rapid succession, doing so apparently too quickly for he stumbles and falls backwards into the closed door. The lock, of which hadn't been fastened on properly in Jeno's haste to hide from Jaemin, clatters to the sopping floor.

When he opens his eyes again, he's sat facing the shower he had just escaped from, his butt on the floor in the centre of the washroom and pain shooting up his tailbone with the force of his fall.

His hair drips down into his eyes making it difficult to see but he's well aware of Johnny's presence and the stares he's shooting in Jeno's direction.

This looks weird. 

Really weird.

The showers are still running at full capacity, and it's here that Jeno remembers Mark's words from last night: "The plumbing is all linked, so if you turn the middle tap on too fast the water pump in the pipes directs the water to the showers accidentally."

In short-

Jeno turns slowly, swivelling around to look at Johnny. He knows he's blushing deeply, for his cheeks are inflamed. 

-Lurking in the showers was a recipe for disaster. 

Johnny's hands were mid-soapy, his khaki outfit splashed with water on the side closest to Jeno. Although he had been initially surprised and had jumped about three feet in the air when Jeno had first cried out, he could now only blink at the wet boy on the floor in disappointment. 

"Jeno, if you're going to be a pervert, there are better hiding places than the empty showers."

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After returning back to the cabin with heavy wet clothes and dripping hair that ran into his eyes, his wooden plank tucked safely under his arm, Jeno was pleased to note that Jaemin had already apparently made his way to breakfast. 

He changed his clothes to something a little bit more stylish, settling for dark jeans a simple tee. He wasn't exactly making an effort for someone, but he wanted to avoid any snarky comments by Jaemin in regards to his appearance.

He looped the wet clothes around the disconnected telephone wire that snaked between the trees near their cabin in an attempt to get them dry for later, and headed in the direction Mark had pointed out to them all last night. It was hidden in an alcove not too far from where the counsellor cabins were located, and was surrounded by a nestle of red woods that 'had been imported from California' or something. Jeno hadn't really listened to that part. The path itself was well hidden, perhaps in an attempt to confuse bears or a wandering group of kid campers looking for a midnight feast.

Either could be deadly.

He walked noticing that the pain in his ankle was dull today, and it seemed to be getting better the more he walked on it. 

Although the shower incident that morning hadn't been a total success considering Johnny was now convinced that Jeno was a total Peeping Tom, he felt like today might be better. 

As he approached the building at the end of the path (whilst being mindful of the rabbit holes) he managed to appreciate something about the camp for the first time. The Mess Hall wasn't exactly five star appearance-wise, but it seemed to be the only building throughout the park that didn't feature those infernal yellow curtains and 80s design notes. 

It was just wood. Wood tables, wood cutlery, wood chairs. 

And, as Jeno approached the closest window to the door, he caught sight of Jaemin's floppy brown hair in the window frame and considered that there were even wooden _personalities_ too. 

Then again, as he pushed open the door and said wooden-personality turned to scowl at him as an apparent natural reflex, Jeno had to back track. 

Jaemin's personality was more like stone.

"Jeno!" 

It was Mark, of whom was beaming at him. The noticeable porridge dribbling down Mark's chin as he smiled brightly somehow only made him more endearing.

A glance around the Mess Hall alerted Jeno to two things; one- the Mess Hall was _huge_. With towering ceilings and long Harry Potter looking tables, the whole building seemed to be grander and more impressive than he had been expecting. Two- he was the last one to arrive. However, if this had been a problem, no one said anything. If anything, everybody looked pleased to see him. 

Well, almost everybody. 

Jeno could feel the scowl and piercing eyes burrowing into the back of his skull from way across the hall, he didn't even have to turn and look to know who was instigating it.

Renjun and Jisung smiled gently at him, offering a chorus of "how did you sleep?"'s and "the scrambled eggs are really good, you should try them." as they gestured down to their empty plates in front of them. They'd seated themselves just off from the centre of the middle table of the room, sitting opposite each other and still in close proximity to the others. Apparently they had really embraced the 'buddy' spirit and were becoming fast friends. Well, at least from what Jeno could gather from their deep discussion and the way Mark was looking over at them constantly with a proud grin on his face whenever someone wasn't talking to him.

"'Morning," Jeno managed to smile at everyone. 

He immediately heads over in the direction of Mark's table, subtly fist bumping Hyuck in way of greeting. Mark, who was never one to refuse company, patted the empty seat beside him encouragingly, hurriedly scooping the dribbling porridge from his chin with his tongue. He'd sat himself dead centre of the hall, managing to look like The Last Supper with his disciples - or fellow counsellors - surrounding him.

Jeno felt more warmth in the Mess in that moment than he had done in his brief moments in the morning sunshine earlier that day. He feels his smile stretching further the more he walks over towards the group of boys, catching Chenle's eye and waving a silent greeting to him upon approach. He waves back, looking sleepier in the early morn then yesterday. 

However, once again Jeno's bubble was about to burst. 

He hadn't even made it halfway across the hall before a voice cooed in the sickliest of tones, 

_"Unooooo,"_

Jeno paled.

Mark, who had been in the midst of rearranging his seating area to give Jeno room, stopped moving and turned in the direction of the voice. They all did. 

Where the boys had been gathered around one table in the middle of the hall, tucking into their breakfasts and rubbing their eyes sleepily while discussing the day ahead, one boy had apparently not taken to that.

The furthest table against the far window, a table which was seated in the cast of direct sunlight poking in through the pines, housed one lone wolf. The boy's legs were crossed under his body and a steaming mug was placed carefully in front of him with one slim hand wrapped around a stirring spoon.

Deep brown eyes and soft floppy hair that was still slightly wet around the sides, bright eyes and a flawless complexion. 

And yet, Jeno couldn't help but think he was like spoiled art. Dirtied or ruined in someway, in this case in personality.

Jeno gripped his plank tighter under his arm, reminding himself that it would be foolish to skip breakfast for no reason other than to avoid such an asshole. Mark, who seemed to have a sixth sense for the tension between them after witnessing the immediate and unprovoked hostility last night, whispered quietly: "he wanted to sit there to take in the sunshine. Maybe you two could start bonding in the sun?" 

Jaemin waved his spoon vaguely at the empty seat in front of him, a shit-eating grin on his face as he did so. "I believe we're supposed to sit in partners?" He quipped, raising an eyebrow at Mark. 

Mark, who obviously seemed conflicted by his own rules knowing that Jeno couldn't sit beside him, could only nod and glance back down at his porridge. "He's right." Is all he said, busying himself with a sip of his orange juice out of what Jeno could only assume was guilt.

It was like feeding him to the sharks.

Jeno said nothing as he hobbled to the empty seat opposite Jaemin, only feeling tension on his face and in the set of his shoulders as he moved closer. He felt the eyes of everyone on his back, but he continued. 

Jaemin wasn't going to out-psyche him. 

Not a chance.

He fell back into the seat and sighed. _Here we go._

"Good morning." Jaemin smirked, stirring the coffee in his battered mug. He leaned back in his chair to get a better look at Jeno, drinking him in rather unnervingly.

The look he was observing made the hairs on Jeno's arms stand up on end, he felt like a helpless rabbit being stalked by its prey. 

"Morning." 

_Nothing 'good' about it._

"Sleep well?"

Jeno glowered across the table at him as he spoke through gritted teeth. "Mostly. I was a little cold." 

Jaemin, who was apparently most amused by this, snorted. "I wonder why that was. Perhaps we should look at finding you a blanket."

"Or a new roommate." Jeno mumbled, leaning his chin on his palm and staring out the window. 

"Ooo, that's _not_ very friendly." 

"I wouldn't want to waste my time trying to be."

Jaemin tutted, bringing his coffee mug to his lips and sipping loudly. "Uno, come on now, there's no need to be like that."

"Why do you mock me? You don't even know me." Jeno protests, folding his arms in defence.

"Ahh. On the contrary, Uno-" Jaemin grins, smug written across his forehead. "-You're so predictable I feel like I've known you for too long."

Jeno seemed surprised by this, and it was definitely not what he had been expecting Jaemin to say. His eyebrows knit together as he tries to source how he was predictable, thinking back to how projectile vomit and falling down a disguised rabbit hole was in any way predictable. 

Jaemin seems to gain even more satisfaction out of this as Jeno struggles to see it.

"You were going to take the chair next to Mark rather than the empty one beside Renjun because you think Johnny might want to sit there when he eventually enters the room." Jaemin glances over to the seating arrangement between the others, rolling his eyes when Jeno pouts back at him in protest. "Predictable."

"I wasn't going to-"

Jaemin doesn't even listen to him.

"Heading back to the cabin earlier than everybody else last night because you were worried about why I didn't make it to dinner?" 

Jeno feels himself turning red in rapid time, yet he can't exactly protest because it was, indeed, the truth. 

Jaemin smirks again, watching Jeno intently from over the table with an amused glint in his eyes. He seemed to take pleasure out of teasing him for his kindness and selfless gestures. Of which apparently meant nothing to Jaemin personally.

His eyes roll again. 

_"Predictable."_

The boy in question begins to stammer over his words, not willing to accept the fact of his apparent predictability.

Jaemin continues unfazed.

"You woke up later than everyone else because you just already seemed like the type of guy that showers at night-"

Jeno turned to him and, as if on cue, opened his mouth wide in a large yawn. He reached up to scrub at his eyes, removing the sleep that had crusted at the edges and allowed himself time to rub a hand down his face. He truly was exhausted after last night, and he felt it so deeply that his bones ached within the confines of his body. 

As his hand fell back into his lap, Jeno looked up instinctively and was taken aback to see something flicker across Jaemin's face. 

Jaemin had been watching him studiously from over the rim of his coffee mug, and the moment Jeno had opened his mouth to yawn, something had changed. 

The scowl, of which Jeno had assumed was a permanent fixture, melted away. 

_Perhaps he realised that I woke up late because I got hardly any sleep last night?_

The boy clutched the coffee mug tighter and appeared to lean further forward, his eyebrows knitting together slightly and his eyes scanning Jeno's face. The look was something he hadn't seen on Jaemin's usually bitter features before, and it seemed to be so out of place that it totally captured Jeno's wandering attention. 

The look was almost...

Soft.

However, as rapidly as the look had appeared and displayed itself across Jaemin's pretty features, it had vanished. 

Jeno didn't even have time to try and work out what the look had meant. He wondered what on earth went on in Jaemin's mind for him to be this sheltered, why he seemed to deflect Jeno in such a way and then fall silent immediately after. 

It really was puzzling.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, and the oddest thing appeared to spark within Jeno. Perhaps it was The Look from Jaemin or the hunger that was rattling his stomach, but he just couldn't bear it. 

It.

The silence.

He couldn't bear the silence. 

His mind was picking for something to say and he wanted- no, _needed_ to fill the usually tease-filled void quickly. He couldn't even say why he hated the silence between them this much, but something about it just felt wrong. It felt different, and Jeno had never been any good about adjusting to 'different'. 

Whatever had just crossed over Jaemin was definitely unusual, for Jeno had never found himself being the one to instigate a conversation with him before. Ever. If anything before this moment he had prayed for silence from the other, to ask for a reverse seemed totally skewed. 

Grasping for anything in desperation to end the silence, Jeno blurts out rather indiscreetly: "You have a nice singing voice."

About three seconds after Jeno opened his mouth he immediately knew that of _all the things_ he could have said, that was not one of them. It definitely should not have been one of them.

Jaemin's eyes sharpened.

_Oh shit._

_Shit with a capital 'S'._

Jeno sucked in a breath. 

"What?" 

The question was a warning, perhaps suggesting Jeno drop the subject entirely in order to walk away unscathed or perhaps with his livelihood still in tact. The scorching look that was delivered from the other side of the coffee mug was one that made the hairs on the back of Jeno's neck stand up to attention. Jaemin wasn't overly annoyed, but he clearly didn't want to talk about the singing this morning.

Jeno hadn't been _afraid_ of Jaemin thus far per se, but there was still time for that in their remaining time together. 

Even though he'd never been an ear-blusher, this certainly seemed like the trigger becoming one. The tips of his helix seemed inflamed, his heart hammering just that little bit faster in his chest. 

"Queen?" Jeno continued, his voice sounding as if he wasn't the slightest bit intimidated and was merely having a nice chat. "I didn't realise you had such classic taste." 

Jeno continues talking like Jaemin isn't glaring at him to stop, desperately and positively pleading him to stop. "So does your Dad listen to them?" He proceeds, dancing around the topic like it was no big deal, like Jaemin wasn't growing more and more agitated and positively sneering at him at this point. At the mention of his dad, he seems to shift in his seat uncomfortably, yet when Jeno gains no verbal response, something in his brain decides to push for a reaction despite the distaste Jaemin had for this topic. 

Big mistake.

It's this final push that appears to send Jaemin over the edge. 

"Or maybe your mom-?"

Snap.

 _Oh no, Jeno._ He scolds himself, watching the anger unfurl in front of his eyes in slow motion. _What have you done?_

The coffee mug is slammed back onto the table, it's remaining contents skimming and dancing around the rim of the mug. Some spilled out and scalded Jaemin's fingertips that clenched the handle, yet he doesn't cry out or jerk back. 

Jeno leans back against the support of his seat as Jaemin raises himself forward, one finger outstretched and pointing directly at Jeno as he cowers backwards. 

He's leaning over the table at this point, getting closer into Jeno's personal space than he ever would have predicted. Right up in his grill with one index finger aimed right at the centre of his chest, he inhales sharply. 

His face is the epitome of anger. 

"If you _ever_ " He spits, jabbing his finger roughly into Jeno's chest. " _ever_ ask personal questions like that again,"

He points his sloshing coffee mug in the direction of the talkative crowd in the centre of the room, not breaking direct and intimidating eye contact with Jeno for even a split second. 

"I'll make your life hell for the next nine weeks with them. Don't think that this is all talk because I fucking _will_."

This close up, Jeno could see the detail of Jaemin's hazel eyes. They were speckled with gold, flakes of rose and deep rich copper swirling the inner iris. The pupil was diluted, probably triggered by the deep adrenaline rush that came with anger like this. Jeno couldn't look away no matter how intimidating Jaemin was as he leant over him like this. His eyes were practically flaming. 

Jeno had never seen anything like it.

Jaemin must have suddenly become aware of Jeno studying him and looking deeply into his eyes, for he drew back a little in realisation. 

The blush on Jeno's cheeks and ears deepened further. 

The instigator settled backwards into his seat once more. He pushed the coffee mug away from him as though it was a foul and disgusting object, and then opted to stare at his hands with the same disgusted expression twisting his pretty features. 

The hardened look and the coldness in his eyes set goose pimples blazing down Jeno's bare arms like wildfire. 

Jaemin said nothing for a moment and allowed the silence to settle for a second before he whispered ever so quietly, completely different in tone from the bitter and snarled tone from before-

"This conversation-" 

Jeno continued to stare at him, mostly in fascination than anything else. 

Jaemin suddenly couldn't meet his eyes. 

"-Never happened." 

Jeno said nothing. 

Jaemin turning his gaze away from his hands to the view from the Mess window and into the trees beyond. His vision clouded over and he disappeared into a trail of thought that the boy opposite him decided was best left unbroken.

The hardened and somewhat permanent scowl was back on the boy's face, yet Jeno sensed that there was no genuine feeling behind this particular expression. It seemed empty and meaningless, like it was superficial and just for show.

Even though he was sat directly in front of Jeno and hadn't physically gone anywhere, it suddenly felt like the scowling boy was a million miles away. 

Jeno felt his own mind retreating to a state of deep thought, his mind consumed with many _many_ questions as to what in the world was going on here. Before he could reach a state anywhere close to how deep Jaemin appeared to be, the sound of footsteps broke him out of his thought process for the second time that day. 

A glance in the direction of the footsteps yielded a view of Johnny as he inched closer to the two on the furthest table away from the others. Judging by the way he approached - of which was ginger and with a certain degree of apprehension - he had clearly witnessed Jaemin's threatening finger jabs and wished to stay away. 

Despite this, he advanced. And, most delightfully, he came bearing gifts. He was clutching a plate of stacked waffles in his hands that seemed to beckon Jeno's grumbling stomach closer just from the smell. However, remarkably it wasn't the immediate thing that drew Jeno's attention to him. 

Johnny was wearing a kitchen apron of, let's say questionable taste. It was all black and reached his knees. It would have been fine, if it didn't have the words _"your opinion wasn't in the recipe"_ scrawled across the front in huge white letters.

It was very Johnny-like, and when Johnny caught sight of what Jeno was looking at, he felt the need to add as he reached their table: "Mark bought it for me" with a large and proud smile on his face. 

He placed the waffles down in front of Jeno, and the minute the plate made contact with the table, Jeno snatched at his knife and fork and began to eat. 

"Jesus Christ..." Johnny whispered, looking at Jeno's ravenous bites in horror. "I think you're forgetting to chew."

" ** _-Hmgfnhungwee-_** " He mumbled between bites of food, already shovelling the next lot into his mouth.

Jaemin pretended not to notice, continuing to look out of the window with his thousand mile stare. Johnny acknowledged this and, after seeing Jaemin snap from his vantage point from across the Mess, had decided to steer clear of any morning interaction with him.

He turned his attention back to Jeno.

"So," he pressed on, "Mark and I both agreed that if you weren't feeling up to the trust building training today because of your ankle, then you could sit it out."

Jeno swallowed the food that had just been in his mouth and looked up at Johnny, pausing from his meal. 

"Oh really?"

Jaemin, who must have been half listening to what was going on, seemed to turn his head slightly towards them both to indicate he was listening.

Jeno tries to ignore him.

"We didn't want you to damage it any further."

Jeno thinks about this for a second, quietly assessing how badly his foot was aching just by sitting there. His ankle, although better than yesterday, was throbbing and the muscles supporting his foot didn't exactly feel like Dwayne The Rock Johnson. 

Doubt must have cast a shadow over his face, for as Jeno turned his head to face Johnny again, he caught sight of a smirking Jaemin as he looked out of the window, clearly aware of what was going on. That smirk irked him more than he would care to admit. 

He could tell that Jeno was going to pussy out. 

And he was apparently smug that he could tease him about it for the unforeseeable future. 

Even as his ankle throbbed under the table and warned him against it, Jeno straightened his back and looked up towards Johnny confidently. 

He wasn't going to be predictable. 

"I'll do the trust exercises."

Even though he knew he'd regret it, the fading smirk and the replacing look of surprise on Jaemin's face were satisfaction enough to compensate for the potential trauma. 

He was going to do this thing and he was going to prove Jaemin wrong.


End file.
